Beginning with the short story "The passing of Grandison" we all know now that Grandison was planning to dip out on Dick and the Colonel this whole time. But what were the secret messages that could of possibly went over our heads while reading the story on our first passage? Well for starters, lets talk about how fake happy he was to be a slave Before the journey for them to go up north, there was a started conversation with Grandison and the Colonel with a smart word choice that went something like this:
"'Deed, suh, I would n' low none er dem cussed, low-down abolitioners ter come nigh me, suh, I 'd - I 'd - would I be 'lowed ter hit 'em, suh?"
Well played Grandison. Pretending to hate one of the few people in this time that are willing to give you a new and better life is the perfect way to trick your master. Especially because the Colonel believed that this is the only civil way an African American should live because what silly goose would want them to be truly happy?
Another part of the story, which I believe is the funniest part is when Grandison and Dick are up north and Grandison portrays to be unmovable. Dick tries to throw anything possible that would possibly want to make Grandison leave, but he is like a statue.
"When he came back a couple of days later and found the faithful Grandison at his post, and the hundred dollars intact, Dick felt seriously annoyed."
See, Dick knew for sure that his long road trips and under the table money would run Grandison clean off. But Grandison saw the broader scheme of things. At this moment of the story, Grandison wasn't too sure if him and Dick were on the same page with his escape, so he didn't want to make any noticeable moves. Because of this intuition Grandison had, he didn't take any of the money Dick offered because maybe Grandison felt as if Dick saw the money was gone, he would know Grandison was on to something. So Grandison was trying to cover his tracks with the whole plan.
Now moving on to the poem "The Ante-Bellum Sermon." The pastor portrayed to be talking about the great fight between Moses and a Pharaoh in the bible, but it greatly tied with the accruing issue between African Americans and conservatives.
Dey kin fo'ge yo'chains an' shackles
F'om de mountains to de sea;
But de Lawd will sen' some Moses
Fu' to set his chilun free.
In this half stanza, Dunbar is saying somebody is coming to let the children go not only in the bible, but in real life. Now considering the fact that this was taken place during the civil war time, could he possibly referring to this Moses as Harriet Tubman? Since she was the hero to save all enslaved African Americans to the promise land.
One of the main things that the pastor would repeat throughout the sermon was " I will pause right hyeah to say, Dat I'm still a-preachin' ancient, I ain't talkin' bout to-day." This was repeatedly said because the pastor simply didn't want word to get out that slaves were plotting a great escape. To keep it biblical, and to keep the message going, the best way was to tell the crowd not to be offended by what is being said, it's simply just coming from the bible.
On the last disguised quote that was kind of a smirking moment for the African Americans was
"But I want to wa'n you people,
Don't you git too brigity;
An' don't you git to braggin'
Bout dese things, you wait an' see.
Don't you git too brigity;
An' don't you git to braggin'
Bout dese things, you wait an' see.
What is being portrayed is a waiting game. Everybody believes that African Americans will be enslaved forever and won't have a chance to living a regular life like their masters. But the pastor is secretly saying that is not the case. In due time, we will be on the same level as others so don't cheer to being on the top of the world as of yet.
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