History Theatre / SeventeenSeventySix

* BittersweetEnding: The film ends with the Declaration signed and independence declared -- and years of a turbulent and desperate war that did not look winnable ahead of them. As Washington had mentioned, his army was in terrible shape, his money and credit were all gone, and the British had the strongest navy in the world. That bit in the Declaration about pledging "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" wasn't just emotionalism. Notably, the finale music isn't triumphant and hopeful but discordant and chilling.

* BittersweetEnding: The film ends with the Declaration signed and independence declared -- and years of a turbulent and desperate war that did not look winnable ahead of them. As Washington had mentioned, his army was in terrible shape, his money and credit were all gone, and the British had the strongest navy in the world. That bit in the Declaration about pledging "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" wasn't just emotionalism.

* AdultFear: In "Mama, Look Sharp", we not only get the horror of your child dying in agony in a violent conflict but dying ''just'' before you can find and comfort them, after they've been calling desperately for you.

[[SongOfPrayer Good God]], sir, [[AnythingButThat was that fair?]]"''

Not to be confused with a ''Film/ThreeHundred'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTcVNuNX8yY parody]] made by ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''.

** The debate over American Independence did not boil down to an argument over the phrasing of the Declaration and whether slavery ought to be legal, as it more or less does in the movie. While the wording of the Declaration ''was'' debated, Congress had, in a surprisingly lucid moment, decided to vote on the issue first and argue the wording of the document after the fact, i.e. Congress had already voted in favor of independence before making changes to the Declaration. The fictionalized debate did serve to make the musical more politically correct by modern standards, and more dramatic since it added an element of "what are you willing to compromise?" to the mix. And it set up one of the musical's most profound comments on American Politics, Franklin's "Whether you like it or not, John, these men will become part of the country you hope to create" (a very, very significant line in this era where phrases like "un-American" are used so frequently in political debate). Still, historically speaking, slavery was not in any way the point on which the issue of independence hinged. It probably ''could'' have been, but the Revolutionary leaders, as a whole and by silent agreement, passed the buck for [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar the next generation to deal with]].

*** See NotSoDifferent below

* NotSoDifferent: "Molasses to Rum to Slaves" has Rutledge spotlight the North's complicity in the slave trade.
-->'''Rutledge''' [''extending one hand'']: "Hail Boston!"
-->'''Rutledge''' [''extending the other hand'']: "Hail Charleston!"
-->'''Rutledge''': "Who stinketh the most?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"
-->[''cue dramatic contentious closing music'']

* BritishStuffiness: John Adams demonstrated something akin to this, reflecting the Puritan ethos imported with the original Plymouth settlers that reigned supreme in Massachusetts in his day and for a long time thereafter. For example, he expresses astonishment that Mister and Missus Jefferson would conjugate at an improper time of day.[[note]]Ironic considering that Adams and ''his'' wife were deeply in love ''and'' hot for one another.[[/note]]

* HonorBeforeReason: John Hancock all but promises Adams that he will do whatever Adams wants him to do, because he is from Massachusetts like Adams. Adams tells him to remain neutral as President of Congress; otherwise, any victory for independence would be tainted.

* AdultFear: In "Momma Look Sharp", we not only get the horror of your child dying in agony in a violent conflict but dying ''just'' before you can find and comfort them after they've been calling desperately for you.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Franklin compares being called an Englishman without the full rights of one to calling an ox a bull, "He's thankful for the honor, but he'd much rather have restored what's rightfully his," to gales of laughter from the congress, [[DeadpanSnarker Dickinson]] simply retorts, "When did you first notice they were missing, sir?" Even Franklin bursts out laughing at that.

Good God, sir, [[AnythingButThat was that fair?]]"''

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Bare-''Lee!'': ''en route'' to obtain a resolution from the House of Burgesses on Independence:
--->'''Lee:''' I'll just stop off in Stratford long enough to [[HappilyMarried refresh the missus]], then straight to the matter!
** Later, in Congress:
--->'''Jefferson:''' And tonight, I'm leaving for home.\\
'''Hancock:''' On business?\\
'''Jefferson:''' ''Family'' business.\\
'''Hopkins:''' Give her a flourish for me, young feller!
** In ''But, Mr. Adams'':
--->'''Adams:''' Mr. Jefferson -- ''dear'' Mr. Jefferson --\\
I'm only forty-one, I still have my virility,\\
And I can romp through Cupid's grove with great agility,\\
But life is more than sexual combustibility!
** When Franklin and Adams first check on Jefferson's progress:
--->'''Adams''': Look at him, Franklin. Virginia's most famous lover!\\
'''Jefferson''': Virginia abstains.
** Later, as Franklin and Adams leave the Jeffersons:
--->'''Adams''': Come on, Franklin! There's work to be done!\\
'''Franklin''': Heh heh! Obviously!\\
'''John Adams''': Good God, you don't mean... they're not going to...? ''In the middle of the afternoon???''\\
'''Franklin''': Not everybody's from Boston, John!\\
'''Jefferson''': "Dear Mr. Adams, I am taking my wife back to bed. Kindly go away."
** The first reprise of "Yours, Yours, Yours", after Martha Jefferson arrives, is one long, scarcely veiled innuendo, in which the two (in incredibly eloquent words, naturally) complain about all the sex they're not having with each other and lament how much they miss each other -- in both the emotional and physical senses -- then promise that they'll get to it just as soon as they see each other again.

** An odd one, in the opening credits drum section, right after "Presented by Creator/ColumbiaPictures": a quote of the drum sequence opening to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox

** Richard Henry Lee gets [[PutOnABus elected governor of Virginia and leaves for good after his short time in the show]]. This never happened in real life, but it was a necessity because his comedic nature would have heavily undercut the show's drama, so they had to [[ShooOutTheClowns get him out to keep the tension intact]].

* AHouseDivided: The utopian Adams refuses to budge on the slavery issue, foreseeing a future cataclysm if they don't stop it here and now. [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar (To be fair, he's right.)]] But the Southerners, led by Rutledge, promise to kill the Declaration if the government tries to abolish slavery. In the end, even Jefferson admits they have to strike it.

''1776'' is the name of a 1969 Broadway play by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone, and its 1972 film adaptation, featuring Creator/WilliamDaniels (yes, [[Series/KnightRider KITT]], [[Series/StElsewhere Dr. Craig]], and [[Series/BoyMeetsWorld Mr. Feeny]]) in the role that made him a star. It's a mostly accurate depiction of the hurdles and loopholes that the Founding Fathers went through in order to separate from Great Britain... well, once you take out [[TheMusical the all-singing, all-dancing part]], it is, anyway. It could be said that one of the greatest battles during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution didn't occur on the battlefield, but in Independence Hall amongst the delegates in getting them to agree to get the Declaration of Independence passed and establishing the United States as a separate nation.

The musical got a 1997 revival on Broadway, starring Creator/BrentSpiner as Adams. (Yes, [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Data]].) A GenderFlip production consisting entirely of women and non-binary, transgender, and genderqueer actors of [[RaceLift various ethnicities]] directed by Diane Paulus has been slated for a tour and a Broadway premiere in 2021.

* ShownTheirWork: A book on the play notes what parts were accurate, what parts were left out, and what parts were admittedly fudged for the sake of the narrative.

** Caesar Rodney riding eighty miles in failing health to show up [[IAintGotTimeToBleed just in time for the vote]] (a real event, famous enough that it's on the Delaware quarter).

* TakeThat:
** "I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, [[SelfDeprecation that two are called a law firm]], and three or more ''become a Congress''!!" This is never, ever, not relevant.
** The New York legislature gets it particularly hard. New York only ever [[StiffUpperLip abstains]] [[InsistentTerminology ("Courteously!")]] when called upon to vote, because the New York Legislature had never bothered to ''give'' the New York delegation any instructions, as "they all talk very loud, and very fast, and nobody listens to anybody else, with the result that nothing ever gets done." This was just as true in 1972 as it was in 1776, and as any New Yorker will tell you, it's ''still'' true today. In the show's Broadway debut, this line got the biggest laugh out of all of them.
-->'''Morris:''' To Hell with New York, I'll sign the damned thing anyway.

* TemptingFate: When Adams tries to convince Chase of Maryland that they can win the war against England, he lays it on a little too thick.
-->'''Adams:''' Why, as chairman of the war committee, I can state for a fact that the Army has never been in better shape. Never have troops been more cheerful. Never have soldiers been more resolute! Never have training and discipline been more ''spirited!'' ''([[BearerOfBadNews the courier]] enters)'' [[OhCrap Oh, good God]].

* SuddenlyShouting; John Hancock is prone to this, when Wilson seconds Dickinson's motion that the vote on the resolution of independence are to be unanimous.

** An odd one, in the opening credits drum section, right after "Presented by Columbia Pictures": a quote of the drum sequence opening to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox