On June 6, 1765, George Sims published the "Nutbush Address." The document, entitled “An Address to the People of Granville County,” set forth in graphic language the abuses of power that the people of the Piedmont region were forced to suffer under colonial rule. The address specifically mentioned excessive taxes, high rents, unfair fees, and fraudulent accounting of public funds. Its particular target was Samuel Benton, political kingpin of colonial Granville.
Sims was a schoolteacher living in that portion of Granville County known as Nutbush. Nutbush was roughly what is now Vance County. With wide circulation of the Nutbush Address, public temper in the “Granville District” became increasingly agitated. Regulator leader Herman Husband quoted from the address and used it to his advantage when he later wrote about the Regulator movement.
One historian wrote that the Nutbush Address represents “the first recorded mutterings of the troubles that grew into the War of the Regulation.”
Other related resources:
- Alamance Battleground State Historic Site
- The Regulator Movement on NCpedia
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