Final answer:
Covey keeps his enslaved people living in fear and submission through regular beatings, threats of sending them back to their previous owner, exhausting them with long hours of work, providing very little food, and constantly monitoring their work.
Step-by-step explanation:
Covey keeps his enslaved people living in fear and submission through several methods.
First, he beats them regularly, inflicting physical pain as a form of control.
Second, he threatens to send them back to Thomas Auld, their previous owner, if they do not obey his commands.
Third, he exhausts them by making them work long hours without rest.
Fourth, he gives them very little food, which keeps them weak and dependent on him.
Finally, Covey sneaks up on them to check on their work, creating a constant sense of surveillance and fear.