The slaves barely had anything to eat. Starvation started to set in. But what hurt him most when he was a child were the colds. The only clothing he had was a white shirt that came down to his knees. That was all. Most of the time he suffered from colds, having to sleep with no blankets, or a bed for that matter. He sometimes took a field sack to sleep in at night, but he was still cold. When he moved to Baltimore, it was the first time he owned a pair of trousers. Often times he had to eat mush with the other children. A trough would be placed on the ground when it was time to eat, and the children would have to eat with either their broken oyster shells, or their hands. The biggest kid got to eat the most. It was a fight to survive. Douglass also spoke of beatings, whether it was first hand, or whether he witnessed them. Sometimes he saw his masters taking great pleasure in whipping a slave, or beating a slave with a hickory stick. He saw people beat so bad, the blood ran for a half hour at a time, leaving large welts and scars. He also talked about the blood curdling screams he heard when people were beaten. He watched his poor aunt get a horrible beating. One of his masters, Master Andrew stomped on Fredericks little brother until blood came from his eyes and ears. Hell other times slaves was killed. After all, killing a slave isn't a crime, for being accused is being convicted. One time a friend of Douglass was getting whipped and then decided to jump into a creek so he wouldn't get hit anymore. Mr. Gore gave him the count of three to get out. He didn't, so Mr. Gore raised his gun and shot the poor man in the head. The slave who was shot didn't even belong to Mr. Gore. He was just watching him. The situation is still that severe. .
Other than the beatings, and the lack of rights, slaves still had to put up with "mind games" that "proved to slaves that they could never really make it if they ran away to freedom.
