History Theatre / SeventeenSeventySix

* GladYouThoughtOfIt: Franklin [[ExploitedTrope uses this ploy]] to make the blustery Richard Henry Lee do his bidding. First, he asks how to get the proposal for independence moving again, and Lee realizes that someone else should make the claim, which Franklin already counted on. The Pennsylvanian then makes a big show of wondering who could ''possibly'' have enough power in Virginia to get the House of Burgesses to sway them, and an eager Lee declares that he himself is the perfect choice. Quoth Franklin: [[BlatantLies "Oh, why didn't I think of that?"]]

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/JohnAdams'''

[[quoteright:263:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1776poster_4905.jpg]]

''1776'' is the name of a 1969 Broadway play by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone, and its 1972 film adaptation, featuring Creator/WilliamDaniels 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.

Daniels plays UsefulNotes/JohnAdams (later the first-ever Vice President and second President of the United States), a Boston revolutionary who spearheads the effort for the American Colonies to break from Britain and form a new independent nation. All sorts of reasons are brought up for this, including taxation without representation and the alienation that the Atlantic Ocean brings. With the help of Yoda-like Creator/BenjaminFranklin and a [[ResignedToTheCall heel-dragging]] UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson -- who is so homesick he can barely write the Declaration of Independence -- he puts forth these reasons...which are almost immediately savaged. It takes a minor miracle just to get the whole thing to a spot where it can be voted on, much less ratified; ''that'' would require unanimity.

* IHaveNoSon: "Son? What son?", says Franklin when he's asked about his son William, the royal governor of New Jersey, and when he learns William's been captured, the first words out of his mouth (once he's sure his son is unharmed) are a delighted inquiry about why exactly the Continental Army has arrested "the little bastard." In RealLife, Franklin met his son only once in the last 15 years of his life after William came out for Britain--and William ''was' a bastard in the sense of his parents being unmarried.

* GladIThoughtOfIt: Franklin [[ExploitedTrope uses this ploy]] to make the blustery Richard Henry Lee do his bidding.
** Adams also lets one slip, sort of, as they consider the newly-written Declaration of Independence...

* IHaveNoSon: "Son? What son?", says Franklin when he's asked about his son William, the royal governor of New Jersey, and when he learns William's been captured, the first words out of his mouth (once he's sure his son is unharmed) are a delighted inquiry about why exactly the Continental Army has arrested "the little bastard." In RealLife, Franklin met his son only once in the last 15 years of his life after William came out for Britain.

** "Molasses to Rum", so very much. Sure, Edward Rutledge is arguing for slavery, but when he points out that Jefferson himself owns slaves, and that Adams' Boston is the main home of the traders who bring the slaves in from Africa -- a slave trade which is, in a way, even more horrifying than slavery itself -- he not only has a point, but it's historically accurate.

* AllThereInTheManual: There is a souvenir program out there that shows pictures from the movie and some behind-the-scenes stuff, including the names of the rest of the delegates seen in the movie (mostly Southerners to fill out the dance line in "Cool Considerate Men") For example, the man that yelled "''Will someone shut that man up?''" during "Sit Down, John", is Georgia delegate George Walton.
** However, the musical libretto lists the singer of the aforementioned line as Robert Livingston of New York.

The musical got a 1997 revival on Broadway, starring Creator/BrentSpiner as Adams. 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.

* {{Realpolitik}}: Why Jefferson's clause about the slavery issue is removed from the Declaration of Independence; ''yes'', it's hypocritical and everyone knows it, but the Southern states have based much of their economy on slavery and the Declaration can't get their support unless the reference to slavery is removed. When Adams demurs at removing the clause, Franklin, after mentioning his own anti-slavery credentials, gives him a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech (see below) about the impossibility of gaining Independence without compromising their principles.

* {{Realpolitik}}: Why the Declaration of Independence is notably silent on the slavery issue; ''yes'', it's hypocritical and everyone knew it, but the Southern states had based much of their economy on slavery and wouldn't denounce it, and the Northern states couldn't win independence without the support of the Southern states, so it was either accede to the demand to leave it out or lose the war.

** "Molasses to Rum" is this for the entire North.

* YouNeedToGetLaid: Jefferson spends a week struggling with WritersBlock. His wife arrives, and suddenly all is well.

* WhatTheHellHero: All the damn time to Adams. And he always deserves it, too. "Molasses to Rum" is this for the entire North.
** Even long-suffering Franklin gets tired of Adams' holier-than-thou antics when he crosses the line and impugns Franklin's anti-slavery "credentials". Kindly light-hearted old Ben lets him have it with both barrels:
-->'''Franklin''': ''The issue here is Independence!'' Maybe you've lost sight of that fact but I have not! How ''dare'' you jeopardize our cause, when we've come so far? These men, no matter how much we may disagree with them, are not ribbon clerks to be ordered about! They are proud, accomplished men, the cream of their colonies. And whether you like them or not, they and the people they represent will be part of this new nation that YOU hope to create. Now, either learn how to live with them, or pack up and go home, but in any case, stop acting like a Boston fishwife!

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Benjamin Franklin usually maintains a somewhat-facile demeanor of a jocular, [[DirtyOldMan randy older gentleman]]. It's when he drops the act and becomes earnest is when all stop to listen. Emphasized when, in debate with Dickinson, Franklin passionately describes the new people Americans have become and how they need a new nation: Dickinson, for once, is rendered momentarily speechless.

-->'''Edward Rutledge''': "I was wondering if you could repeat a small passage: The one beginning 'He has waged Cruel War'[[note]](the passage regarding slavery)[[/note]]" *Jefferson stands up abruptly*
** Moments earlier, when Rutledge takes the floor, Franklin murmurs to Adams, "Look out."

* NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: Continental Congress is pretty dysfunctional at the beginning of the show.
-->'''Franklin:''' What do you think, Doctor? Democracy. What Creator/{{Plato}} called "A charming form of government, full of variety and disorder." ''[beat]'' I never knew Plato had been to Philadelphia.

* [[LowerDeckEpisode Lower Deck Scene]]: [=MacNair=], his assistant and the courier sitting in the chamber by themselves and snarking about Congress just before the courier's song, "Mama, Look Sharp".

* HypocriticalHumor: Richard Henry Lee's [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first scene]]. In the opening number, Lee darts his eyes around and suggests opening a window, and is shouted down. Seeing his position is unpopular with the chorus, he prompt-Lee joins in.

-->'''Adams''': Good God, you don't mean ... they're not going to ...? In the middle of the afternoon?\\

* HamToHamCombat: The exchange of wits where Franklin complains about the noise Dickinson is making.

--> '''McKean:''' Aye, what a bastardly bunch we are!

'''[=McKean=]:''' In my case, hangin' won't be so bad; one snap and it'll be all over, just like that. But lookit [skinny] Read there! He'll be dancin' a jig long after I'm gone!\\

* GoodIsNotNice: Adams ordering a dying Caesar Rodney to be dragged out of bed to vote. ("Aye, what a bastardly bunch we are!")

* EleventhHour: Just when it appears that the resolution on independence is about to be defeated, the first New Jersey delegation (led by William Franklin) is recalled, and a second delegation from New Jersey arrives in time to vote for independence.

'''Abby [singing]:''' Saltpetre, John!

* WhamLine: "Just a moment. I ask that the delegation be polled."

** '''Adams:''' Just a moment, Abby... what's in these kegs?\\

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

** Vast amounts of dialogue and even song lyrics were lifted ''intact'' from the writings of the various Founding Fathers. In particular, "obnoxious and disliked" is a paraphrase of ''John Adams' own description'', many decades after the fact, of how he felt he was viewed by the Founders and the nation in general [[note]]Adams recalled telling Jefferson, "I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular"[[/note]] (although many historians feel he was an UnreliableNarrator in this respect), and his duets and discussions with the mental image of his wife Abigail are composed of passages from their letters to each other -- including the "Saltpeter!"/"Pins!" RunningGag. Some of the most poetic passages, including "write to me with sentimental effusion", are direct quotes.

** Vast amounts of dialogue and even song lyrics were lifted ''intact'' from the writings of the various Founding Fathers. In particular, "obnoxious and disliked" was ''John Adams' own description'' many decades after the fact of how he felt he was viewed by the Founders and the nation in general (although many historians feel he was an UnreliableNarrator in this respect), and his duets and discussions with the mental image of his wife Abigail are composed of passages from their letters to each other -- including the "Saltpeter!"/"Pins!" RunningGag. Some of the most poetic passages, including "write to me with sentimental effusion", are direct quotes.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: A clear demonstration that this attitude has been a part of American culture for longer than American culture has been American. Jefferson is eventually obliged to remove all mention of a war, the British parliament, and, more dramatically, [[spoiler:slavery]]. He ''does'' draw the line at not calling the king a tyrant. The entire Congress's threshold snaps in a very different place, when one delegate objects that nowhere in Mr. Jefferson's declaration does he mentions deep-sea fishing rights.