Slave Spy Youth edit By Abigail Schumann · traitor Benedict Arnold. I believed that if James could...
Transcript of Slave Spy Youth edit By Abigail Schumann · traitor Benedict Arnold. I believed that if James could...
Slave Spy Youth edit
By
Abigail Schumann
JYF 2017
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation July 2018
1 SCENE WITH BETTY, JENNY, & THOMAS 1
BETTY
James’ leaving
JENNY
What?
BETTY
James. He’s leaving out of here to
the army camps for Massa Armistead.
JENNY
He never told me.
BETTY
He just been told hisself. He’s
still up at the house.
THOMAS
James ain’t no fighter. What
good’ll he be to the army?
BETTY
Thomas , they ain’t gonna let him
fight no how. He’ll be doing what
he always do.
THOMAS
What’s that?
BETTY
Whatever he’s told to do.
Thomas laughs.
THOMAS
You got that right. They oughta
send me instead. I know what I’d
do.
JENNY
Massa Armistead know what you’d do,
too. That’s why you ain’t going.
THOMAS
hm-mm. I’d be to them British quick
as mule’s ear twitches! The British
still take runaways, you know, and
set them free.
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2.
BETTY
They free you from your old master,
and make themself your new one.
THOMAS
Nah. I believe they mean to free
every man and woman that helps them
through this war.
JENNY
It don’t matter. James is goin’,
not you. And he’s goin’ to the
Americans.
2 JAMES 2
JAMES
Ever since talk of war first came.
And talk of freedom, I knew I’d be
willing to fight and die for
freedom, too.
But early on, it was the British
that was freeing slaves, not the
Americans. Back in 1775, Lord
Dunmore, the Royal Governor, said
the Virginian’s was in rebellion.
He said if their slaves would come
help him defeat the rebels; those
slaves would be set free.
Those was powerful words. Pretty
soon people, enslaved people,
disappeared into the night, headed
for Norfolk. ’Cause that’s where
Dunmore said he’d be. Waiting with
freedom.
But running ain’t easy, so I stayed
put. Then six years later, I got
permission to help the American
Patriots, not the British.
3 ARMISTEAD 3
ARMISTEAD
James, because you been loyal and
trustworthy, I will grant your
request to serve the Continental
Army. General Lafayette needs
people to forage; to identify farms
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3.
ARMISTEAD (cont’d)that can supply his troops. You
know the Peninsula as well as any
man. I think you will do good
service to him.
After six years of fighting, this
war may soon be over, James. If
General Washington and General
Lafayette are victorious, the
United States will be an
independent nation; no longer a
slave to Britain. It is a noble
cause you serve, James, worth dying
for; no matter how small your
contribution will be.
4 JAMES 4
JAMES
I was sent to the camp of General
Lafayette where I learned that it
was difficult to know the enemy
strength; to know how many men the
British General Cornwallis had in
Virginia. They did not all stay in
one place, or move at the same
time. But I knew a way I could get
the information General Lafayette
needed.
He said the Americans had many
spies, but my plan, and my bravery,
had come at just the right time and
place.
He spoke to me, not as a master
speaks to a slave, but as a man
speaks with another man.
I was with him only a short while,
but I held his attention. I gained
his trust.
And I left his tent willing to risk
my life for the cause of liberty.
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4.
5 LAFAYETTE 5
LAFAYETTE
James was a man of uncommon
intelligence and well suited to his
employment. He was able to wear a
mask of indifference upon his face
despite the constant suspicion that
accompanies war. It was impossible
to know what was in his mind. And
this was his strength.
I took to him immediately, and
dispatched him to spy upon the
traitor Benedict Arnold. I believed
that if James could fool such a
despicable turncoat as Arnold, he
could fool anyone.
He did not disappoint.
And I suspect that General Arnold
made it known that James was
trustworthy. Perhaps this is how
James was able to enter into the
service of General Cornwallis in
Yorktown at summer’s end. And it
was there that he became invaluable
to me.
6 JAMES 6
JAMES
When I got to the British camp, I
told General Cornwallis that my
master had sent me to serve the
Continental Army; but I would
rather serve him. I said the first
chance I got, I ran away to the
British camp. Cornwallis believed
me and soon I was serving meals at
his table.
Unfortunately he did not share his
battle plans with his dinner
guests. But sometimes he said more
than he meant to, and I remembered
it.
Telling Lafayette what I heard was
difficult. So I became friends with
other slaves in the camp, hoping I
(MORE)
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5.
JAMES (cont’d)could trust them to take my
messages to Lafayette.
It was very dangerous to send
others in my place. I quickly
learned that once a spy shares his
secrets with someone else, his life
is in their hands.
If these people that I trusted were
discovered on their errand; or if
they betrayed me, I would certainly
be killed. But there was no other
way to deliver the information.
Or so I thought.
7 SCENE WITH JAMES & CORNWALLIS 7
CORNWALLIS
James? Before you go, I have a
question for you.
JAMES
Yes, General Cornwallis.
CORNWALLIS
Are you loyal, James? To King
George? To me?
JAMES
Yes, General Cornwallis. I am
loyal.
CORNWALLIS
To the King?
JAMES
To the King, sir. Yes, sir.
CORNWALLIS
I don’t believe you.
CORNWALLIS
Why would you, an American slave,
be loyal the British King? I
believe it is a deception.
I think you only want your own
freedom.
(MORE)
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6.
CORNWALLIS (cont’d)
So I want you to return to the
American camp. Tell them that His
Majesty’s Army is great in number.
And listen to their reaction.
Then report back to me. Bring me
the intelligence I need to defeat
the Americans, and you will be
free.
Do you understand what I am asking
you to do, James?
JAMES
Yes, sir. You are asking me to be
your spy.
CORNWALLIS
Then we are agreed?
JAMES
We are agreed, sir.
8 JAMES 8
JAMES
I could not believe that a British
General was asking me to be his
spy. I had a choice to remain loyal
to Lafayette. Or to change my
loyalties, and serve Cornwallis.
I thought about Liberty and
Freedom.
Suddenly, they seemed two different
things. Liberty was a big thing,
for the country, it was a start of
something. I believed that once the
country had liberty, people would
begin to think differently about
having slaves.
Freedom was big, too, but in a
different way. It was heavier. You
could hold it in your hands. You
could claim it. Own it. Freedom was
personal.
I remembered wondering, at the
start of the war, how it would feel
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7.
JAMES (cont’d)
to find freedom with the British.
And now I stood, as if in a dream,
choosing between freedom for myself
or liberty for my country.
When I woke from the dream, my
choice was clear.
9 LAFAYETTE 9
LAFAYETTE
Throughout the summer, General
Cornwallis and I have played a game
of cat and mouse. But our Armies
move with caution. Always each of
us uncertain of the strength of our
enemy.
I wake every morning, praying
Cornwallis does not discover how
few men are actually at my
disposal. And now I learn that
James has been made his agent.
This is the opportunity I have been
waiting for. James will deliver
this letter to Cornwallis. It says
that Continental reinforcements are
but a short march from
Williamsburg. Upon hearing this, I
believe the British General will
tremble.
This letter, of course,is a
falsehood. In truth; we do not have
enough men to withstand a full
attack. If that information is
discovered by General Cornwallis,
America may be lost.
10 JAMES 10
JAMES
I always knew the risk, the danger,
of being a spy. General Lafayette
made it plain when I first spied on
Benedict Arnold.
He said, "If you are discovered,
they will kill you."
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation July 2018
8.
But I never feared it, until now. I
never considered how so many other
lives depended upon my actions; my
choices. Lives depending upon this
letter in my hand. This lie which I
must deliver convincingly.
He tosses the letter on the ground. Steps on it, then
"pretends" to have just discovered it.
I found it on the roadside, sir,
outside of General Lafayette’s
headquarters.
He picks up the letter.
He or one of his aides must have
dropped it. No one saw me pick up.
I thought it might be of interest,
sir.
11 SCENE WITH JAMES & CORNWALLIS 11
CORNWALLIS
Did you read it?
JAMES
No, sir. I cannot read.
CORNWALLIS
Then why did you think it
important?
JAMES
I knew it was a letter of some
kind, sir. Being so close to
General Lafayette’s quarters, it
was possible it was his.
CORNWALLIS
You did well, James. This
information is useful to me. You
may go.
12 JAMES 12
JAMES
The letter distressed General
Cornwallis. But I do not know
whether he changed his plan because
of it; whether he delayed when he
should have acted.
(MORE)
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9.
JAMES (cont’d)
But by the end of September, the
American armies were gathered near
Williamsburg. Within weeks, they
laid siege to Yorktown. Any chance
Cornwallis had to overpower them,
was gone.
On the nineteenth day of October
seventeen-hundred and eighty-one,
General Cornwallis surrendered his
army to General Washington. The
American Revolution was over.
13 SCENE WITH BETTY, JENNY, & THOMAS 13
BETTY
It’s five years the war been over,
and James is still a slave? I
reckon he’ll stay that way, just
like the rest of us.
JENNY
Why you go and say such things,
Betty?
BETTY
It’s the truth, is why.
THOMAS
I don’t know, Betty. James did good
by them during the war. They should
repay him for it.
JENNY
The should have given him his
freedom for serving the army. Other
men gained their freedom that way.
THOMAS
James weren’t no fighter, Jenny. He
didn’t dig trenches neither. He
wasn’t in the army; he was a spy.
It’s not the same thing.
JENNY
It’s not fair.
BETTY
When did ’fair’ ever have anything
to do with it?
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10.
14 LAFAYETTE 14
LAFAYETTE
After the surrender of General
Cornwallis at Yorktown, I returned
to France and to my family,
believing that "liberty now had a
country."
But when I discovered that James
was still in bondage long after the
war, I was shocked and dismayed. So
when I learned that he
was petitioning the Virginia
Assembly for his freedom, I wrote
them a letter, in support of his
request:
Reads from a piece of paper.
"This is to certify that James has
done essential service to me"
during America’s war for
independence. He is entitled to
every reward his situation can
admit of."
"Richmond, 1784. Lafayette."
15 JAMES 15
JAMES
With General Lafayette’s help, my
petition for freedom was finally
granted in October of 1786. To
remind myself each day of the debt
I owe to the General, I took his
name, Lafayette, as my own. Tis
impossible to measure my gratitude
for his letter, and his support of
my cause.
Forty-three years after the war’s
end, Lafayette came again to
America. It was a national
celebration. He was a hero of the
American Revolution. When he came
to Yorktown, I stood in the crowd
to watch his coach pass, and give
my respects.
Somehow, he recognized me, in the
crowd, after forty years, and he
bade his driver to stop the coach.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation July 2018
11.
The Marquis de Lafayette, a true
hero of the American Revolution,
greeted me as a long lost comrade,
while all of Yorktown stood in awe
around us.
16 JAMES 16
In my petition for freedom, I said
"I had an honest desire to serve
this Country" for"I had long been
persuaded that all mankind have a
just right to Freedom." And I
believe it still.
I asked only that I might be
granted that same Freedom for which
America fought; and which I helped
to establish. "A freedom which I
hope I always prove myself worthy
of."
Although I was enslaved, I served
the cause of liberty because I
believed that cause to be right and
just. I was not mistaken.
I am James Lafayette; a free man.
I am James Lafayette; an American
Patriot.
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