Did the 'Middle Passage' deserve its awful reputation? Source 3

Evidence of Mr Falconbridge regarding conditions aboard a slave ship. Taken from An Abridgement of the Minutes of Evidence taken before a Committee Considering the Slave Trade, 1789.

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Your task is to determine just how awful conditions were aboard the slave ships.All the sources have been chosen to help you in this task. Once you have read the source and thought about the things to consider, you might find it helpful to make some notes on the worksheet.

Things to consider...

According to Mr Falconbridge, what do some slaves do with regard to food and medicine? Why do you think that they would do that?

Falconbridge mentions how many slaves were lost on the voyages that he made. Try to work out the percentages.

According to Mr Falconbridge, what are the main causes of deaths amongst slaves?