History YMMV / SeventeenSeventySix

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: John Adams and Benjamin Franklin's friendship straining during the argument over removing the anti-slavery section from the Declaration to appease southern interests and keep them aboard. Is Adams's idealism unrealistic and Franklin right about the simple political reality that if they can't keep the South on board long enough to declare independence it won't matter what the Declaration says? Is Adams the OnlySaneMan, fighting to condemn the single biggest black mark in American history, and Franklin's willingness to concede distressing, since he's willing to tolerate distasteful tyranny worse than Britain's in the name of cold economics and political expediency? If BothSidesHaveAPoint, whom does the ForegoneConclusion of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar in the pipeline less than a century later serve as a point towards? The show doesn't take a side, just recounts what happened: the mythologized Founding Fathers passed that buck on to the next generation, who eventually started killing one another over it.

* Lyman Hall ultimately comes to the decision [[spoiler: to support independence, despite being aware his constituents do not]] by reading the works of Edmund Burke, who argued that a representative owes their voters judgment rather than obedience and that he betrays them if he sacrifices judgment to popular opinion. Burke is one of the most important conservative thinkers in the Western tradition and spent basically his entire career as a political theorist lambasting what he saw as ingrates trying to turn the world upside down and destroy the divinely-appointed social order through the philosophies of democratic egalitarianism; his inspiring [[spoiler: the creation of one of the most important bastions of liberal democracy in the history of the world]] is deliciously ironic.

* Lyman Hall ultimately comes to the decision [[spoiler: to support independence, despite being aware his constituents do not]] by reading the works of Edmund Burke, who argued that a representative owes their voters judgment rather than obedience and that he betrays them if he sacrifices judgment to popular opinion. Burke is one of the most important conservative thinkers in the Western tradition and spent basically his entire career as a political theorist lambasting what he saw as ingrates trying to turn the world upside down and destroy the divinely-appointed social order; his inspiring [[spoiler: the creation of one of the most important bastions of liberal democracy in the history of the world]] is deliciously ironic.

* FandomRivalry: Fans of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' have been known to ''warn people away'' from watching this show just because Adams and Hamilton hated each other. Never mind that Creator/LinManuelMiranda is a stated fan of ''1776'', includes several {{Shout Out}}s to it, and that in a joint interview William Daniels asked for ''Hamilton'' tickets which Miranda offered to arrange-- only for Daniels to tell him no, he wanted to pay, because he knew the investors were watching! Miranda has also said he knew he could get away with Adams never appearing onstage because it's so easy to imagine Daniels' portrayal of him. Plus, the matter is far more complicated that "Hamilton was good and Adams was bad" (or vice versa). The truth is that both men gave their contemporaries plenty of reason to dislike them and historians plenty of reasons to criticize.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: John Adams and Benjamin Franklin's friendship straining during the argument over removing the anti-slavery section from the Declaration to appease southern interests and keep them aboard. Is Adams's idealism unrealistic and Franklin right about the simple political reality? that if they can't keep the South on board long enough to declare independence it won't matter what the Declaration says? Is Adams the OnlySaneMan, fighting to condemn the single biggest black mark in American history, and Franklin's willingness to concede distressing, since he's willing to tolerate distasteful tyranny worse than Britain's in the name of cold economics and political expediency? If BothSidesHaveAPoint, whom does the ForegoneConclusion of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar in the pipeline less than a century later serve as a point towards? The show doesn't take a side, just recounts what happened: the mythologized Founding Fathers passed that buck on to the next generation, who eventually started killing one another over it.

* {{Applicability}}: Particularly for Americans, ''1776'' strikes close to home and invites comparison with modern-day political factions.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Sherman Edwards didn't find many takers for his idea for a musical where everyone in the audience [[ForegoneConclusion would know the ending in advance.]] By the time it finally reached Broadway, it had a first-time songwriter (Edwards), a producer who had never had a hit, a book writer whose only previous Broadway credits were two musicals that flopped, and a director whose only previous Broadway credits were as a lighting designer. It had no stars, with the lead role played by character actor William Daniels, only two women in the cast who both have minor roles, and several long scenes with no music where men argue over Congressional votes and the wording of a document. Of course it became a smash hit.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The scene with the Courier. There's very little {{Foreshadowing}} leading up to it, it features three people who get no characterization outside of this scene, and nothing that happens ever gets mentioned again. On paper, including this scene makes absolutely no sense in the context of the show and seems unnecessary, but the fact that the scene contains "Mama, Look Sharp", one of the [[TearJerker saddest songs in Broadway history]], means that [[Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad people tend to forgive it]]. The reason it worked out that way is because "Mama, Look Sharp" was originally written to be sung by a soldier during the "Adams and Franklin visit New Brunswick" sequence that got cut out for dragging down the show's momentum. The way the scenes were set up, the Continental soldiers would be played by the same actors who played the rest of the Congressional delegates and denizens. The actor who played the Courier happened to be the actor who played the soldier singing "Mama, Look Sharp," so a short scene of him singing alongside [=MacNair=] and the Leather-Apron was written, to help bring home the reality being faced by all the ordinary people affected by the Congress' decisions.

** "Molasses to Rum." Rutledge pantomimes slave transport ("stuff them in the ships!") and a slave auction, admonishing imaginary prospective buyers to "Handle them! ''Fondle them!'' But don't '''finger''' them!!!" Orchestras will often break out whip sound effects to make the characters ''and'' the audience flinch. The effect is even more pronounced if you're watching it live in the theater, where you are just as trapped as the rest of Congress as Rutledge's pantomime of a slave auction becomes more and more intense (especially as it includes lyrics cut from the film where he sings about the faces of the traders in the same auctioneer's tone he used for Angola and Ashanti.

** Sharp-eyed viewers will note that, during the choreography for the song "Cool Considerate Men," specifically during the chorus ("ever to the right, never to the left") at no time do any of the singers ever step directly to the left. Even when they move to the left, they do so by making three right turns.

* CantUnhearIt: In the eyes of fans, William Daniels simply ''is'' John Adams. In fact, this trope is why John Adams doesn't appear in ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''--Lin-Manuel Miranda is ALSO a fan of ''1776'' and knew that any actor who took the role who invariably be compared to Daniels.

* CantUnhearIt: In the eyes of fans, William Daniels simply ''is'' John Adams.

** When Adams pleads with Franklin that posterity would never forgive them if they give in on slavery, Franklin responds, "What would posterity think we were, demigods? We're men, no more, no less." As it turns out, American historians are often frustrated by the popular opinion HistoricalHeroUpgrade of the Founding Fathers as practically that kind of distinction and have to bend over backwards to explain that they were as human as any politician. No less a critic than Roger Ebert hated the film for that very reason.[[note]]In fact Charles Thompson would later destroy his own 1,000 page history on the American Revolution to deliberately preserve the heroic virtues of the Founding Fathers. Given how often the Founders are invoked to denounce contrary opinions it could be seen as GoneHorriblyRight.[[/note]]

** When Adams pleads with Franklin that posterity would never forgive them if they give in on slavery, Franklin responds, "What would posterity think we were, demigods? We're men, no more, no less." As it turns out, American historians are often frustrated by the popular opinion HistoricalHeroUpgrade of the Founding Fathers as practically that kind of distinction and have to bend over backwards to explain that they were as human as any politician. No less a critic than Roger Ebert hated the film for that very reason.[[note/]]In fact Charles Thompson would later destry his own 1,000 page history on the American Revolution to deliberately preserve heroic virtues of the Founding Fathers. Given how often the Founders are invoked to denounce contrary opinions it could be seen as GoneHorriblyRight.[[/note]]

** When Adams pleads with Franklin that posterity would never forgive them if they give in on slavery, Franklin responds, "What would posterity think we were, demigods? We're men, no more, no less." As it turns out, American historians are often frustrated by the popular opinion HistoricalHeroUpgrade of the Founding Fathers as practically that kind of distinction and have to bend over backwards to explain that they were as human as any politician. No less a critic than Roger Ebert hated the film for that very reason