Slaves Inhumanly Housed Together on the Slave Ship Brooks - Figures 4 and 5. Click on the image for an expanded view.
In his book, The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, by the British Parliament (1839), Thomas Clarkson describes how these images, depicting transport of slaves during the Middle Passage, were created (by his committee) and received (by many members of the public).
The object of the effort was to disprove claims (by various members of the slave trade) that kidnapped Africans were well-treated and had sufficient room aboard ship to endure the passage:
"Such was the picture which the committee were obliged to draw, if they regarded mathematical accuracy, of the room allotted to the slaves in this vessel.
"By this picture was exhibited the nature of the Elysium [a synonym for "Paradise"] which Mr. Norris [a slaver] and others had invented for them during their transportation from their own country.
"By this picture were seen also the advantages of Sir William Dolben's bill [Slave Trade Regulation Act of 1788 which limited the number of slaves on board a slave ship]; for many, on looking at the plate, considered the regulation itself [this links to the actual parliamentary debates on the issue] as perfect barbarism.
"The advantages, however, obtained by it were considerable; for the Brookes was now restricted to 450 slaves, whereas it was proved that she carried 609 in a former voyage."
The drawings depict the number of slaves allowed under the regulation (450) and not the maximum number of slaves (609) which the Brooks had once carried. That is the reason for Clarkson's statement that many "considered the regulation itself as perfect barbarism."
Credits
Images and quoted passage, from Chapter 24, Clarkson, et al, The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, by the British Parliament (1839).
Online, courtesy Project Gutenberg.
