S U D Y G U I world-premere play by award-wnnng playwrght nthony larvoe, commssoned by and created wth the Bloomsburg heatre nsemble, about Joseph Prestley, celebrated scentst, radcal relgous leader, and ferce defender of the mercan Revoluton, who, after makng hmself the most hated man n ngland, spent hs last years n Northumberland, Pennsylvana. D
Show Summary 3 he haracters Joseph Prestley 4 Mary Prestley 4 John dams 4 bgal dams 4 homas Jefferson 5 Sally Hemngs 5 homas ooper 5 mothy Pckerng 6 Benjamn Frankln Bache 6 Wllam obbett 6 Hstory and Poltcs 7 ommon ore onnectons 9 Scence 10 ommon ore onnectons 13 References 14 Bblography 14 B L OF O N N S 2 P a g e
S H "He who does not foolshly affect to be above the falngs of humanty, wll not be mortfed when t s proved that he s but a man. " -Joseph Prestley, xperments and Observatons on Dfferent Knds of r O W S U M M R Y hs s a play about merca. It brngs to lfe not only the thrllng scentfc dscoveres of the late 18 th century, but also the worldchangng experment of forgng a new naton. he story focuses on Joseph Prestley, a celebrated scentst and poltcal radcal. Because of hs belefs, Joseph Prestley was hounded out of hs natve ngland. He hoped to secure a sanctuary along the banks of the Susquehanna. Would he fnd merca that great experment to be the true democracy he had champoned from across the sea? Would he fnally be free to pursue hs relgon, scence, and poltcal belefs n ths new land of lberty? Gunpowder Joe takes place n the tumultuous years after our naton s founded. he mercan Revoluton s over, but how are we gong to govern ourselves? Revolutonary comrades turn nto btter poltcal opponents when t comes tme to actually govern the country they founded. he mmgrant Prestley s drawn nto the vortex of merca s frst major crss. Freedom of Speech has yet to be tested and Prestley s admrers, John dams and homas Jefferson, are engaged n a deeply polarzng debate over the fate of our fledglng naton. Wll Prestley once agan fnd hmself labeled a most dangerous man because of hs belefs and outspoken nature? 3 P a g e
Joseph Prestley (1733-1804) noted Brtsh theologan, poltcal progressve, and prolfc author, Prestley s best known as the dscoverer of oxygen. Hs scentfc contrbutons nclude: development of the carbonaton process, an early understandng of the relatonshp between plants and anmals, dentfcaton of carbon monoxde, experments n electrcty, and exploraton of photosynthess. supporter of the mercan Revoluton, Prestley was dubbed Gunpowder Joe by hs poltcal enemes because of hs ncendary wrtngs. H e Mary Prestley (1742-1796) John dams (1735-1826) Born nto a successful ndustralst famly (Wlknson Ironworks), Mary marred Joseph Prestley n 1762. She was the mother of ther four chldren, and an ntellectual companon and supporter of her husband s work. She joned her husband n exle, and looked forward to ther new lfe n merca. Mary desgned the archtecture of the Prestley s home, but ded of tuberculoss before the constructon was fnshed. dams was the Frst Vce Presdent and Second Presdent of the Unted States. He helped draft the Declaraton of Independence. fter the Revolutonary War, he became the frst mercan Mnster to London, whch s where he met Prestley. In 1796, dams beat hs old frend and poltcal enemy homas Jefferson to become presdent. Respected but not popular, dams served one term before losng to Jefferson n the electon of 1800. bgal dams (1744-1818) bgal was the wfe of the Second Presdent, John dams, and the mother of the Sxth Presdent, John Quncy dams. Her fond, newsy and phlosophcal letters to her husband have become famous both as evdence of a deep love affar and as a source of nformaton about the Revolutonary era. H R R S bgal became a frend to Frst Lady Martha Washngton when John dams became the country s frst Vce Presdent under George Washngton. 4 P a g e
homas jefferson (1743-1826) Jefferson was the hrd Presdent and a key drafter of the Declaraton of Independence. He credted Joseph Prestley s wrtngs as nsprng that document. He served as: Mnster to France, Governor of Vrgna, and Secretary of State. He was Vce Presdent to John dams. her famously contentous relatonshp spawned our naton s two-party system. her frendshp was rekndled, however, through an exchange of letters. Jefferson and dams ded wthn hours of each other on the ffteth annversary of the sgnng of the Declaraton of Independence. H e Sally Hemngs (1773-1835) n enslaved woman of mxed race, Hemngs was owned by Presdent homas Jefferson. Most hstorans agree that she was the mother of sx fathered by hm, of whom four survved to adulthood, and were gven freedom by Jefferson. t fourteen, Hemngs accompaned Jefferson's daughter, Mary, to London and then to Pars where she spent two years. It s beleved that Jefferson began hs relatonshp wth Hemngs whle she was accompanyng hs daughter n France. Hemngs remaned a slave n Jefferson's house untl hs death. homas ooper (1759-1839) n nglo-mercan economst, college presdent, poltcal phlosopher, and a fellow radcal n ngland wth Joseph Prestley. Lke hs frend Prestley, ooper sympathzed wth the Jeffersonan Democrat-Republcans. He was very vocal n hs dsapproval of the len and Sedton cts. He later served as the char of chemstry at Dcknson ollege and at the Unversty of Pennsylvana. He went on to become the Presdent of the Unversty of South arolna. H R R S 5 P a g e
mothy Pckerng (1795-1800) poltcan from Massachusetts, Pckerng served as the thrd Secretary of State. He fought n the Revolutonary War and partcpated n the Pennsylvana conventon to ratfy the onsttuton. s Secretary of State he s most remembered for hs strong Federalst Party attachments to Brtsh causes. In 1802, Pckerng attempted to gan support for the secesson of New ngland. he rony of a Federalst movng aganst the natonal government was not lost among hs dssenters. H e Benjamn Frankln Bache (1769-1798) Wllam obbet (1763-1835) n mercan journalst, prnter and publsher, Bache founded the Phladelpha urora newspaper. Hs paper's heated attacks of Federalst poltcal leaders are thought to have contrbuted to ongress's passage of the len and Sedton cts, under whch Bache was arrested n 1798. he law may have been wrtten to suppress opponents such as Bache. fter postng bal, he publcly condemned the Sedton ct n prnt as a volaton of the Frst mendment. Before hs tral, he ded at age 29 of yellow fever. lso known as Peter Porcupne, he was a controversal pamphleteer n hs natve ngland. In 1793 he saled for Phladelpha and arrved nto a poltcal storm. onvnced that Joseph Prestley was a trator, obbett wrote the pamphlet Observatons on the mgraton of Joseph Prestley. It launched hs career as a journalst. hrough hs newspaper, Porcupne s Gazette, he engaged n a meda war aganst Benjamn Frankln Bache s urora. fter payng a heavy fne n a lbel judgment, obbett returned to ngland n 1800. H R c t e r s 6 P a g e
h s t o r y and p o l t c s Joseph Prestley lved n ngland durng an exctng tme often called the "ge of nlghtenment." Durng ths perod n the 1700s, scentsts and phlosophers began examnng the world through reason and human ntellect. her deas touched many aspects of lfe ncludng: poltcs, economcs, scence, and relgon. nlghtenment thnkers promoted the poltcal concept known as Natural Rghts. hs theory argues that people are born wth certan rghts the government cannot take away such as lfe, lberty, and the pursut of happness. hese values nformed the sedton of the mercan colones from ther mother country, Great Brtan, where the church and state were unted. hs created a dangerous envronment for the dssenters who refused to swear an oath to the nglcan church. No laws exsted to protect the people from expressng dssatsfacton wth the law. Joseph Prestley made no effort to hde hs belefs. He dd not subscrbe to the 19 rtcles of the nglcan hurch. s an academc, he taught about prncples of good governments many deas of whch ncluded ant-establshment thnkng and were consdered explosve and dangerous. Many upper class nglsh beleved that common people controllng the government would result n chaos. Prestley, however, ved for ncreased lteracy and educaton whch he beleved would lead the people to a natural nterest n matters of ther governance. Joseph Prestley communed wth a crcle of expermenters, ndustralsts, phlosophers, and ntellects n Brmngham, ngland who called themselves the "Lunar Socety." he name orgnated from coordnatng ther monthly meetng tme wth the full moon. hey playfully called themselves the "lunartcs." n xperment on a Brd n the r Pump, 1768 he Lunar Socety Wth Prestley's ncreased nvolvement n the Lunar Socety, the meetng tmes 7 P a g e
moved from the Sunday to the Monday nearest the full moon to accommodate Prestley's pror commtments as a clergyman. h s t o r y he Brtsh artst Joseph Wrght of Derby knew Joseph Prestley and was closely attached to the Lunar Socety. Wrght s pantngs of laboratory scenes depct the ntense, wondrous moments of scentfc dscovery. Our poster mage for Gunpowder Joe was nspred by these artworks. and p o l t c s Phlosopher Lecturng on the Orrery, 1766 ventually, Prestley s radcal vews and hs rsky publc poston became dangerous to hm and hs famly. In 1791, a week-long publc rot destroyed hs home, lbrary of research, laboratory, and chapels. he harassment contnued and n 1794, Prestley saled for merca and settled n Northumberland, Pennsylvana. He beleved that the new naton s government was progressve enough to allow for freethnkng. In merca he dd not algn hmself wth any poltcal party and contnued to wrte and operate as a free-thnker. 8 P a g e
ommon ore onnectons Grades 9-10: For text requrements, utlze the scrpt provded SS.L-LIRY.RH.9-10.3 nalyze n detal a seres of events descrbed n a text; determne whether earler events caused later ones or smply preceded them. SS.L-LIRY.RH.9-10.4 Determne the meanng of words and phrases as they are used n a text, ncludng vocabulary descrbng poltcal, socal, or economc aspects of hstory/socal scence. Get ctve reate a rtcal Response: Descrbe the events whch preceded Joseph Prestley s relocaton to merca. What, f any, events led to hs relocaton? Support your response wth specfc examples and vocabulary from the text. Grades 11-12 SS.L-Lteracy.RI.11-12.4 Determne the meanng of words and phrases as they are used n a text, ncludng analyzng how an author uses and refnes the meanng of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madson defnes facton n Federalst No. 10). SS.L-Lteracy.RH.11-12.6 valuate authors dfferng ponts of vew on the same hstorcal event or ssue by assessng the authors clams, reasonng, and evdence. SS.L.Lteracy.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multple sources of nformaton presented n dverse formats and meda (e.g., vsually, quanttatvely, as well as n words) n order to address a queston or solve a problem. Get ctve reate a Play Response: Utlze dverse formats and meda to present your personal response to the play. Use the performance tself as a model for meda-enhanced delvery of nformaton. arryng on n Prestley s expermental sprt, fnd a unque way to present your feelngs, reactons, and thought about the play. Do not smply summarze the play; delve nto why the play dd/dd not work for you as an audence member. ll facets of the producton are far game: actng, costumes, set, musc, lghts, etc. 9 P a g e
In Joseph Prestley s tme, there was no such word as scentst. learly defned areas of study such as chemstry, bology, and physcs dd not exst. urous mnds nterested n the study of nature and ts workngs were called Natural Phlosophers. Joseph Prestley was one such Natural Phlosopher from a young age. One of hs earlest experments ncluded trappng spders n closed jars to see how long they could lve. Prestley had no formal scence tranng, but he was an avd expermenter. He dd not seek to become famous, nstead, he desred to thnk for hmself and encourage hs students to do the same. Scence demonstratons served as parlor-room and farground entertanments n the 18th century. hese Prestley experments are presented n Gunpowder Joe: he Dscovery of Oxygen In a seres of experments culmnatng n 1774, Prestley found that ar s not an elementary substance, but a composton, or mxture of gases. mong them was the colorless and hghly reactve gas he called dephlogstcated ar, to whch the great French chemst ntone Lavoser would soon gve the name oxygen. Prestley conducted hs most famous experment usng a glass burnng lens through whch he focused sunlght on a lump of reddsh mercurc oxde sat on top of an nverted glass contaner flled wth mercury and placed n a pool of mercury. he gas emtted, he found, was fve or sx tmes as good as common ar. In succeedng tests, t caused a flame to burn ntensely and kept a mouse alve about four tmes as long as a smlar quantty of ar. Both the mouse and Prestley found ths gas to have remarkable effects: he feelng of t n my lungs was not sensbly dfferent from that of common ar, but I fanced that my breast felt pecularly lght and easy for some tme afterwards Htherto only two mce and myself have had the prvlege of breathng t, he wrote. S I N Prestley s Laboratory, c. 1775 10 P a g e
arbonaton Joseph Prestley nvented soda pop! In 1767, Prestley was offered a mnstry n Leeds located near a brewery. he abundant and convenent source of fxed ar carbon doxde from fermentaton sparked hs lfelong nvestgaton nto the chemstry of gases. he brewery allowed hm to experment on ther premses. He dscovered that pourng plan water back and forth between two cups whle holdng t over the vats nfused t wth the fxed ar after a short amount of tme, addng an agreeable fzz. He found a way to artfcally produce ths sparklng water and the method earned hm the Royal Socety s coveted opely Prze and was the precursor of the modern soft-drnk ndustry. S I Prestley s arbonaton Devce, 1772 lectrcty When Joseph Prestley frst took up Natural Phlosophy, he was drawn to the relatvely new study of electrcty. He traveled to London n 1765 and met Benjamn Frankln (who was servng as Pennsylvana s colonal agent) n a coffee house and offered to wrte a book about the exctng dscoveres n ths feld. N Frankln encouraged Prestley to conduct hs own experments whle wrtng hs book. he Hstory and Present State of lectrcty, wth Orgnal xperments was publshed n 1767, and t was a bg ht. opes crculated around the globe. Frankln sent multple copes back to the colones, whch was no wonder, as t was n ths book that the story of Frankln s famous experment wth the key and the kte was frst told. 11 P a g e
S he book would reman the prncpal text on electrcty for nearly a hundred years. Prestley outlned hs own dscoveres n the book, and he ncluded some tps for asprng scentfc showmen: descrpton of the most NRINING XPRIMNS performed by electrcty. l Raeker-Jordon, an engneerng student at Bucknell Unversty, has bult a replca of Joseph Prestley s statc electrcty machne from a dagram n Prestley s book. fter the machne s used n n the play, t wll be donated to the Joseph Prestley House n Northumberland. I N Replca of Prestley s 1769 statc electrcty machne, bult by John Jenkns, Spark Museum (Vntage Rado and Scentfc pparatus) 12 P a g e
ommon ore onnectons Grades 9-10 SS.L-LIRY.WHS.9-10.2 Wrte nformatve/explanatory texts, ncludng the narraton of hstorcal events, scentfc procedures/ experments, or techncal processes. SS.L-LIRY.WHS.9-10.9 Draw evdence from nformatonal texts to support analyss, reflecton, and research. Get ctve reate rtcal Response: Utlze the play s presentaton of scence and techncal subjects n the scrpt and producton to create a crtcal response. Utlze a wde varety of resources. Grades 11-12 SS.L-LIRY.RS.11-12.3 Follow precsely a complex multstep procedure when carryng out experments, takng measurements, or performng techncal tasks; analyze the specfc results based on explanatons n the text. SS.L-LIRY.RS.11-12.2 Determne the central deas or conclusons of a text; summarze complex concepts, processes, or nformaton presented n a text by paraphrasng them n smpler but stll accurate terms. Get ctve Recreate Prestley s xperments: Use Prestley s own nstructons to replcate hs experments and equpment. reate a Play Revew: Wrte a play revew n response to ts presentaton of Prestley s achevements n scence. nalyze how the playwrght, actors, drector, and desgners have transformed scentfc nformaton nto performance. 13 P a g e
R e s o u r c e s b b l o g r a p h y Joseph Prestley House Webpage: http://www.josephprestleyhouse.org/learn/about-joseph-prestley/ Joseph Prestly House eacher Packet: http://www.josephprestleyhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/eacherpacket.pdf mercan hemcal Socety, Joseph Prestley and the Dscovery of Oxygen: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/educaton/whatschemstry/landmarks/josephprestleyoxy gen.html mercan hemcal Socety, Landmark Lesson Plan: Dscovery of Oxygen: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/educaton/whatschemstry/landmarks/lessonplans/joseph-prestley-dscoverer-of-oxygen.html PBS: he Mystery of Matter, psode 1: Out of hn r: http://www.pbs.org/vdeo/2365543486/ Brown, Ira V. (1962). Joseph Prestley: Selectons from Hs Wrtngs. Penn State Press: Unversty Park, P. lark, John Ruskn. (1994). Joseph Prestley: omet n the System. Frends of Joseph Prestley House: Northumberland, P. Gbbs, F.W. (1965). Joseph Prestley: Revolutons of the ghteenth entury. Doubleday: Garden ty, NY. Graham, Jenny. (1995). Revolutonary n xle: he mgraton of Joseph Prestley to merca 1794-1804. (ransactons of the mercan Phlosophcal Socety Volume 85, Part 2) he mercan Phlosophcal Socety: Phladelpha, P. Jackson, Joe. (2005). World on Fre: Heretc, n rstocrat, and the Race to Dscover Oxygen. Vkng: New York. Johnson, Steven. (2008) he Inventon of r: story of Scence, Fath, Revoluton and the Brth of merca, Rverhead Books, New York. Schofeld. Robert. (1997). he nlghtenment of Joseph Prestley: Study of Hs Lfe and Work from 1733-1773. Penn State Press: Unversty Park, P. Schofeld. Robert. (2004). he nlghtened Joseph Prestley: Study of Hs Lfe and Work from 1773-1804. Penn State Press: Unversty Park, P. Schwartz,. ruman and John G. Mcvoy, ds. (1990). Moton oward Perfecton: he 14 P a g e
chevement of Joseph Prestley. Sknner House Books: Boston. 15 P a g e