https://www.americanyawp.com/text/brookes-print/
The reason I chose this graph is that it raised a strong emotional response in me. It also reveals one of the important purposes of data visualization: raising awareness of social problems. In this graph, human beings are treated even worse than objects, packed tightly together with almost no space or dignity. The visualization makes this cruelty immediately visible and turns abstract numbers into something deeply human and emotional. More importantly, this image was later widely reproduced and distributed by British abolitionists to raise public awareness and support the movement to abolish the slave trade.