Plan of the lower deck of the slave ship, Brookes
William Elford, 1789
Engraving and letterpress
Most 18th-century maps rendered the slave trade invisible. Representations like this, showing enslaved Africans crammed to legal capacity in the Brookes, forced many to confront its horrific realities. The Brookes could legally carry 454 enslaved people, but on one trip it transported over 600.
APS.