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.


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

(MORE)


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.


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)


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)


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

(MORE)


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."


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)


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?


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.


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.


Slave Spy Youth edit By Abigail Schumann · traitor Benedict Arnold. I believed that if James could...

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