as if they had fairly gained the other side of the river
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).
“O, I’m going to glory,—won’t you come along with me? Don’t you see the angels beck’ning, and a calling me away? Don’t you see the golden city and the everlasting day?”
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.
“Die on the field of battle, Die on the field of battle, Glory in my soul.”
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.
It was here that Col. Harney, a United States officer, whipped a slave woman to death
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.
demagogue
"(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
J.C. Hathaway.
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.