10. Withholding Food and Water
Enslaved individuals were often subjected to deprivation of basic needs, such as food and water, as a tool for control. Starvation weakened both the body and will, heightening vulnerability to other abuses. Frederick Douglass recounted his experiences, stating, “I have often been so pinched with hunger, that I have fought with the dog – ‘Old Nep’ – for the smallest crumbs that fell from the kitchen table” (wgbh.org).
