Characters:
Narrator
John William Jasper
Clerk at Immigration
Francis Marion
Colonel William Moultrie
Corporal

Scenes:
At immigration
In South Carolina
On Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
All of the scenes can take place on the stage without elaborate sets. A simple table and chair stage left can represent immigration. Stage right serves as the place where William Jasper meets Francis Marion. Center stage is Sullivan's Island.

Props Needed:
Two long poles (pole vault poles would work)-rags tied around the top of one.

Two blue flags with a silver crescent in the center. Both will be needed for Scene III.

Sound effect needed:
The sound of cannons firing.

NARRATOR
The American Revolution had many unexpected heroes. A 16-year-old German immigrant who sailed into Philadelphia harbor aboard a wooden ship named the Minerva was one of them.

Scene I
(A man is seated at a table. William Jasper stands next to the table with his hat twisted in his hands.)

MAN
Have you taken your oath of allegiance yet?
(William nods) State your name.

WILLIAM
Johann Wilhelm Gasper.

MAN
(Points to a paper on the table) Read this paper and sign your name here.
(William shakes his head)
Can you read or write?
(William again shakes his head to indicate "no".)
Well then, you put an X here, and I'll write your name for you. John William Jasper.
(William puts an X on the paper.)
Now you understand you are indentured for the next 5 years to pay for your passage? You will be a servant.
(William nods in understanding.)
At the end of that time, you will be a free man.
(William nods and smiles broadly.)

NARRATOR
At the end of his years of indentured servitude, John William Jasper was free to find a place where he could build a home in this new land. There was nothing for him around Philadelphia, so he made his way to Georgia and then to South Carolina.

Scene II
(William walks from stage left to stage right where a man in a blue jacket stands holding a blue flag with a silver crescent.)

FRANCIS MARION
Are you interested in helping your country and making some money?

WILLIAM
I am, sir.

FRANCIS MARION
I'm Francis Marion, a recruiter for the 2nd South Carolina regiment. Men who enlist with us can fight with honor and be paid for their efforts.

WILLIAM
My sweetheart Elizabeth is still in Philadelphia, and I hope to send for her.

FRANCIS MARION
By enlisting, you can earn enough to send for her. We need men of courage who believe in freedom.

WILLIAM
Sir, I was a servant for five years to pay for my passage to this country. I believe in freedom. Where do I make my X to join?

FRANCIS MARION
I have the papers here. We colonists who want this to be a separate nation call ourselves Patriots. Those Tories who choose to remain loyal to the King of England call themselves Loyalists. Once you make your X on this paper, you will be a Patriot.

WILLIAM
I already am.

FRANCIS MARION
This flag represents our regiment. The sight of it means a lot to our men, and to the people loyal to our cause. We protect it with our lives.
(He hands the flag to William)

WILLIAM
I am honored to carry it sir. (The two men walk to center stage together. William is holding the flag.)

Scene III

NARRATOR
William proved himself a valiant soldier, rising to the rank of Sergeant. He sent for his sweetheart and they were married. In June 1776, he was sent to defend Sullivan's Island under the command of Colonel William Moultrie. Charles Town was renamed Charleston in 1783.

COLONEL
You have proven yourself to be a brave man, Sergeant Jasper. Now we must all work together to find a way to defend this island.

WILLIAM
How can we do that without a fort, sir? It will take too long to bring materials here.

COLONEL
That's exactly the problem! (Calls to a soldier) Corporal, what materials do we have here on the island?

CORPORAL
Sir, we have myrtle bushes, live oaks, and palmetto trees.

COLONEL
Then, that's what we will use to build a fort.

CORPORAL
Sir, we don't have enough men.

COLONEL
Send messengers to the plantations. Ask the owners to lend us their slaves. Get volunteers. (To William) Order all your men to start hacking down palmettos. Chop those big leaves off. We'll stack the long trunks to form a high double wall. Pile damp sand between the logs and over the top to form a great mound.

NARRATOR
For days the South Carolina 2nd Regiment worked from dawn until dark, finishing all but the backside of the fort and the harbor side.

WILLIAM
(Excited.) Sir, I see sails!! The British are coming. (Corporal enters)

COLONEL
Tell me what you see.

CORPORAL
Sir, the ships are so tall it looks as if their masts scrape the clouds.

WILLIAM
As long as our flag is flying over the fort, people in Charles Town will know we're protecting them. Look, you can see them standing on their roofs, sir.

CORPORAL
We can't disappoint them. With the fort, we should be able to hold firm, but if the British sail up the creek and open fire from the rear . . .

COLONEL
We are finished. All we can hope is that they can't get past the sand bars. For now, however, we will stand and fight.

CORPORAL
Sir, we have no great amount of ammunition.

WILLIAM
Some Patriots have been prying the lead weights out of their windows to be melted down for musket balls.

COLONEL
Then we need to make each shot count.
(Sound effect of cannon shots.)

CORPORAL
Sir, we have not wasted our ammunition. So far, we have put holes in every ship that dared come within range. (Corporal exits)

WILLIAM
Their cannon balls are not exploding inside the fort-they're sinking into the sand and into the logs!

CORPORAL
(Rushing back to the Colonel)
Sir, our flag is down! It's fallen outside the fort!

WILLIAM
We can't fight without our flag! The people of Charles Town will think we have lost the battle and lose hope if they can't see the flag.

CORPORAL
Enemy fire has broken the pole!

(William grabs a cannon staff-this is like a flag pole with rags around the top-used to push cannon balls into the cannon.)

WILLIAM
I'll get it!
(Goes off right with the pole) God save liberty and my country forever!!

COLONEL
What is he doing? My sight is weak. You'll have to tell me.

CORPORAL
Sir, he's climbing over the wall! Now he's walking the length of the fort. The British see him! They are firing at him. Oh, sir! Now he has cut the flag from its pole and he's fastening it to the cannon pole! It's up!!! The flag is up! Sir, he's done it. He climbed the wall and planted the flag where all can see it.

COLONEL
What a man of courage!

CORPORAL
He just turned to the enemy and gave three cheers. Now, he has taken up his gun and is ready to fight again.

COLONEL
Sergeant Jasper has saved the day.

NARRATOR
The British ships that tried to sail around the back of the island did get hung up on sand bars, and were set afire to destroy the ammunition aboard. When it was clear the island was too well defended to take, the British fleet retreated. This daring Patriot victory was a turning point in the war. After the battle of Sullivan's Island, John Rutledge, president of the lower house of the legislature, who later became Governor of South Carolina, presented his own sword to Sergeant William Jasper. The fort on Sullivan's Island was named Fort William Moultrie. Later the blue flag with the silver crescent was adopted as South Carolina's state flag. In honor of the palmetto fort, the tree was added to the design. John William Jasper found freedom in America and a flag to love and protect. The German immigrant boy became a true hero of the American Revolution.

Questions for discussion

1. What does "indentured servitude" mean?
   
   
2. Why was William willing to be indentured?
   
   
3. Would you be upset if someone changed your name?
   
   
4. Why do you think the flag was so important?
   
   
5. Why were Patriots willing to risk so much, even the ordinary citizens? For example, lead weights helped their windows go up and down. Yet, they melted them down for ammunition.
   
   
6. Slaves helped to build the fort on Sullivan Island. What else do you think they did to help America's fight for freedom?
   
   
7. What makes you think Americans are brave today?
   
   
8. What does the American flag mean to you?

Vocabulary to understand

1. immigrant
2. regiment
3. oath of allegiance
4. cannon staff
5. palmetto
6. valiant

Acting tips
In order to make this play easy to produce, use all three parts of the stage area. Stage right and stage left are the right hand and left hand sides of the stage as the actors face the audience. Center stage is the middle.

The set is simple, with only a table and chair. (When a complicated play is produced, special set designers come up with backgrounds and furnishings for the stage.)

There are only a few props required. (Props are the objects that the actors handle on stage.) The pen used to sign William Jasper's X could be a quill (feather) pen; you would also need a small bottle of ink on the table. The long pole that William Jasper used for a flagpole is supposed to have sponge around the end, but rags can be tied on the end to serve the same purpose.

For the sound effect of cannon fire, records (audiotape, CD) are available at the library.

Because he was a German immigrant, it would be good if Jasper was played with a German accent, but it isn't really necessary to understand the story.

A possible drama you can make up
Sometimes it s fun to make up your own play based on what you have learned in doing this one. One person can pretend to be William Jasper and talk about how it feels to come to a new country. You could tell how you feel about not being able to read or write (Jasper actually turned down a commission to be an officer because he thought officers should be able to read and write). You could explain how you feel about the flag.

Or you could be the man at immigration. How do you feel about immigrants? Why do you change the spelling of their names?

Or you could be any character-the corporal who admired Jasper so much, the Colonel who saw him save the flag. Or you could even be one of the townspeople who watched from the rooftops in Charles Town. How do you feel about the war? What does the flag mean to you?

Or, pretend it is today, and a new boy/girl has come to your after-school program. You know the person has just come as an immigrant to America. Create a dialogue to find out about the person, his/her family, and home country. What was it like coming to America and why did the family come? Talk about what you each like to do (games, foods, music) and favorite holidays and traditions. What do they want to know about your neighborhood? Find out how you can help the new person to feel more at home here.

When we put ourselves in someone else's place we begin to understand them better. Give it a try.