The second incident happened after I arrived at the market in Baltimore. Before tobacco can be sold it has to be assessed by a British official. The assessor purposely evaluated my crop far less than what it was worth. Later I found out he was trying to keep the best evaluation for growers that had bribed him. Besides, he did not want to believe that I had raised such good tobacco. How could a Black man raised a crop be of better quality than the others?

When I told him that I would sell my crop elsewhere, he threatened to confiscate it. He was saying that only one third of my crop was any good. And said that I must have stolen it. After a crowd began to assemble, he tried to keep from creating a scene and offered me a deal that was better than his first one but not what my crop was really worth.

Again I was taken advantage of and there was little I could do about it.