Brookes, English Slave Ship, 1788
The Brookes was an infamous English slave ship. This engraving was first published in 1788 by the Plymouth chapter of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. The image shows slaves arranged on the ship's lower deck and poop deck, in accordance with the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788. The Brookes was reportedly allowed to stow 454 African slaves, by allowing a space of 6 feet by 1 foot 4 inches to each man; 5 feet 10 inches by 1 foot 4 inches to each woman, and 5 feet by 1 foot 2 inches to each child. Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves to the Americas. In order to achieve profit, the owners of the ships divided their hulls into holds with little headroom, so they could transport as many slaves as possible. Unhygienic conditions, dehydration, dysentery and scurvy led to a high mortality rate, on average 15% and up to a third of captives.
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Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1700s, 1788, 18th, atlantic, boat, brookes, century, chattel, cruel, cruelty, diagram, eighteenth, english, historic, historical, history, industry, infamous, inhumane, inhumanity, notorious, ship, slave, slavery, trade, transatlantic, triangular
