Poem Stanza

One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.

A mite being wrung from a lab'rer's hands being worth enough to buy and sell land is actually a metapohore for slavery. How the hands that worked the land were the reasons that people could own and maintain land. Furthermore the first two lines are a symbol and irony of worthiness. Worthiness is showed through the idea that even a mite wrung from a slaves' hands would have a far greater value than all the riches of wealthy slave owners. Moreover the author gives the persona that God or a being of higher power watches and protects the "lab'rer's".