Excerpt from Ben Johnson's play, "The Devil is an Ass". Spoken by the character Mammon, this dialogue expresses the desire to regain lost wages at any cost- in short, the highest of high-stakes greed. The inclusion of Latin vocabulary is meant to expand upon the pathos of the piece, in the original play.

That is, approximately $40,000 in 2026. In 1873, land was much more plentiful and there was far less demand (land was worth roughly $1-$15 per acre). The following offer of $3,000 in 1873, would be worth approximately $80,000 in 2026.

"He would dry snow in the oven, to sell it for table salt." An old, French proverb which describes a person's futile endeavor. The earliest source of this quote, is author Joseph-Marie Quérard's "Les Supercheries littéraires dévoilées".

A reference to the earlier "Jordan's Banks"; during the Israelites' exodus out of Egypt, they had to cross the Jordan river during a high tide, about 3,000 feet. But when the priests crossed with the ark, the river stopped up behind them, so that the Israelites walked on dry ground (ref. Joshua 3:15-17).

Does not appear to be a real hymn, but shares lyrics and themes with "I'm Going Home to Glory". This hymn holds less merit in a religious sense and is moreso a representation of African American oral tradition.

A real Christian hymn depicting valorous martyrs who stand in the face of evil and persecution; seen by many (African-) Americans in the 19th century as a song of hope and victory.

In the June of 1834, Colonel William S. Harney beat an African American slave woman named Hannah with a piece of rawhide, after suspecting her of stealing the keys to his office in the Jefferson Barracks military post in Lemay, MO. She died three days later, and a coroner ruled her death as resulting from the injuries sustained by Col. Harney. Despite attempting to flee the state and being indicted on a murder charge by a grand jury, he was later acquitted.

"(n.) a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument." - Oxford Languages

Joseph Comstock Hathaway (1810-1873); a New York abolitionist who contributed to this narrative with his letter, meant as an introduction to the tone that Brown's narrative was going to set. Hathaway served as an outspoken member of the Anti-Slavery Society, socially tied to the Farmington Quakers and maintaining a particular friendship with Frederick Douglass.