As Clarkson was a very religious man, I think that this is a reason to trust him more. As he was religious he is less likely to lie as it is against his religion. So this means whatever he has said, it is most likely to be true as he wouldn’t want to disobey his religion, which makes him more reliable.
He was also an extremely well educated man in his day. He was educated at St. Johns college and also went to Cambridge university in 1785. This means he may be well educated in that subject, which will make him a more reliable source.
Clarkson says that many slaves were put into a small space so the shippers could earn more money. Source B definitely corroborates with his claims as it shows a picture drawn out of the lower deck, crowded with people. But on the other hand, this picture was also drawn out by Thomas Clarkson. This may be accurate because Thomas Clarkson seems fairly trustworthy but then if both sources were from Clarkson, there isn’t any sources agreeing.
He also says that it was stinking below decks. Source A backs up what he said, as it says there was a “stench and bad air”. I think this source is accurate as the man who wrote it was a doctor and travelled on four slave ships. This means he knows what he was talking about when it came to the illnesses and he had the experience of actually being on the ships, whereas Clarkson didn’t.
Another point that he made was that they were treated badly, for example cut up or “mangled”. But, in source D John Newton says that he washed his slaves with freshwater rather than salt water, which is more caring as they are likely to have cuts, burns and blisters so the sea salt would be painful. But John Newton was a slave trader and had said this before he became a Christian, so he may be lying. Plus if there was plenty of salt water and not as much fresh water, he probably did not want to use up the freshwater on washing the slaves. So I do not think this is an accurate source.
Clarkson also says slaves were killed upon the spot for rebelling. In source G it says the slaves were unruly, killed their captain and other crew members were severely hurt. This was written by the cabin boy so it may mean he was lying to make others think that the crew were not the ones in the wrong, so turned it around to make the slaves look bad. But he may also be telling the truth because he has nothing to loose and he was on the ship too. So this source could be either accurate or inaccurate.
Another thing he said was that the slaves were given bad provisions. In source K it explains what they had to eat, which sounds like a relatively healthy diet, but not enough to feed a person properly. I trust this source because the people shipping them across will get more money for the healthier they are and the more they keep alive, but don’t want to spend too much money on feeding them. Also this was Falconbridge’s account from when he was on a slave ship as a doctor, so he wouldn’t lie in his own personal diary.
Clarkson says that a few slaves attempted, and some succeeded suicide. In source H, it says that “death was more preferable than life”. Cugoano was kidnapped as a child and sold as a slave, so is writing from his own account. This makes him more trustworthy as he experienced it, and other sources also agree.
He also said that many slaves died onboard the ship because of bad health. In source J it says “the air was unfit for breathing and bought on a sickness among the slaves”. This was written by Olaudah Equiano who was describing his journey on the middle passage when he was 11 years old. I trust this source because he had been through this ordeal himself and wouldn’t devote his life to abolishing the slave trade if he was lying about it being so terrible.
In conclusion I think that Thomas Clarkson is reliable for finding information about the slave trade. This is because many other sources agree with him, and they wont be saying the same thing for no reason, and his background makes him more trusting too.
