Husband continued, “We want it to be plain that we have nothing to hide and consider it advantageous for the governor to know what we have to say. I might add that most of what we will discuss has already been included in a written petition, which was signed by several hundred citizens of this region and adjoining counties, including many of you. So far, we have not had any response to our requests, either from New Bern or from London, but we hope that our representatives in the assembly will help us get our message across, and that Mr. Fanning will remind the governor of our requests.”

Husband turned for a few minutes to talk quietly with the two other men on the platform, then nodded his head and resumed speaking to the crowd.

“I have listed some of the things that are of concern to us and will repeat them, mostly for those of you who may not be familiar with our petition. But there is no doubt that every one of you has been hit by these same things.”

As he spoke, Husband’s words remained low-pitched, but Ethan noticed the increased intensity of his voice. Feet shuffled and some of the men nodded, but there was no verbal response to these introductory remarks.

Husband glanced down at a folded paper in his hands and continued, “First, we want representation in the state government equal to our portion of the population. Although there have been some improvements in the assembly, most of the decisions that affect us are still made by the governor’s council, who are all rich and powerful people who seem to be more interested in the eastern counties than in those of us out here in the Piedmont region. There seems to be special attention paid to big farmers near the coast, all of whom have large numbers of slaves. I don’t know if you all have heard this, but there is a new law that makes us taxpayers compensate rich farmers every time one of their Negroes dies, even of natural causes—if they certify that the death was premature!”

Ethan heard Henry curse, and there were murmurs throughout the crowded mill house. The previous compensation had applied only to those rare occasions when a slave was given a long sentence or hanged for a capital crime. Some of the men looked at Fanning, who ignored them and continued to write in his notebook.