Slave Ship: BrookesThis is part of a diagram depicting the British slave ship Brookes after the passage of the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788. This law, which sought to improve conditions on slave ships, was passed in response to rising opposition to the slave trade in England. This document depicts how many slaves could be placed on this ship. With 6’ by 1’4” allowed for each man, 5’10” by 1’4” allowed for each woman, and 5’ by 1’2” allowed for each boy, the ship could hold 454 slaves. Before Britain began regulating the slave trade, the ship reportedly carried as many as 609 slaves.
Source: “Stowage of the slave ship ‘Brookes’ under the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788.” |
Abolitionist Propaganda:"London abolitionists had it printed on 7000 posters (in one run), and, in the years that followed, the diagram was widely copied in broadsheets, pamphlets and books in Britain, France and the United States.
Despite its undoubted power – the diagram moved people to tears as early as 1789 – Wilberforce’s act abolishing ‘the purchase, sale, barter or transfer of persons intended to be … used as slaves’ throughout the British empire was not passed until 1807. Slavery itself was not banned until 1833." http://www.eyemagazine.com/blog/post/charts-change-minds |