Short answer: visual source
The stowage plan of the slave ship Brookes
- Unit 2
- 3 points
- About 13 minutes
You look at an image, artwork, photograph, map or chart (described in words here) and answer three or four short parts about what it shows, the developments behind it and connections across the course. On the exam: Section II, short-answer question 2 of 3 (required); the three short-answer questions share a suggested 40 minutes and are 18% of the score. In 2025 and 2026 this question had 3 parts (A–C).
The question and its sources
This source is an image, described here in words. Study the description, then answer parts A, B and C in a few complete sentences each; you don't need a thesis.
Source (image described in words)
The print is a technical drawing of a British slave ship, the Brookes, shown from the side and from above, with cross-sections. Its title reads “Stowage of the British Slave Ship ‘Brookes’ under the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788.”
The views from above show the ship's decks completely filled with rows of small, dark human figures lying side by side, packed so tightly that there is no space between them. Separate areas are labeled “Men,” “Boys” and “Women.” One heading says the plan of the lower deck shows 292 enslaved people. Another shows 130 more packed onto shelves built around the sides of that deck, and says the people on and under the shelves have only 2 feet 7 inches of headroom.
A note in the corner states that after the 1788 law the Brookes was allowed to carry 454 enslaved people, giving each man a space of 6 feet by 1 foot 4 inches, and that before the law the ship had once carried as many as 609.
Source: “Stowage of the British Slave Ship ‘Brookes’ under the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788,” print based on the diagram first published by British abolitionists in 1788–1789 (Library of Congress)
Suggested time: 13 minutes
Your answers are saved in this browser as you type.
Part (A)
1 pointDescribe one purpose of the image.
0 / 2,500 characters
Part (B)
1 pointDescribe one way enslaved Africans resisted aboard slave ships.
0 / 2,500 characters
Part (C)
1 pointExplain how the end of the legal transatlantic slave trade to the United States in 1808 changed slavery within the United States.
0 / 2,500 characters
Checking scoring…
Scoring it yourself shows you the rubric, examples and a model answer. Try writing your answer first.