How did hunger strikes by enslaved Africans affect slaveholders during the Middle Passage? Slaveholders knew that an enslaved person weakened by hunger could be sold for less money. Slaveholders knew that an enslaved person who did not eat would be too tired to perform duties on the ship. Slaveholders worried that an enslaved person who did not eat would not cooperate. Slaveholders worried that an enslaved person who did not eat would try to take control of the ship.