YMMV / 1776

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• Alternate Character Interpretation: 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 part of the program. 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 Only Sane Man, fighting to condemn the single biggest black mark in American history, and Franklin's willingness to concede distressing hypocrisy, since he's willing to tolerate distasteful tyranny worse than Britain's in the name of cold economics and political expediency? If Both Sides Have a Point, whom does the Foregone Conclusion of the The American Civil War 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.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: Sherman Edwards didn't find many takers for his idea for a musical where everyone in the audience would know the ending in advance. By the time it finally reached Broadway, it had a songwriter doing his first musical (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.
• Applicability: Particularly for Americans, 1776 strikes close to home and invites comparison with modern-day politics, especially when it comes to questions of bipartisanship and compromise.
• Award Snub: In this case, a snub of a snub. Thanks to a Tony Awards technicality which stated that lead actors are only considered lead actors if they're Billed Above the Title, William Daniels wound up nominated in the supporting actor category, along with One-Scene Wonder Ron Holgate (Richard Henry Lee). Daniels promptly refused the nomination. Holgate won.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Is Anybody There?" again.
  • "Yours, Yours, Yours" is an achingly poignant look at the demands of honor and duty, and how love can endure despite them.
    I am, as I ever was, and ever shall be...
  • "Molasses to Rum", a thorough musical spanking for the entire North with an incredible orchestration to boot.
  • And of course, most magnificent-Lee, "The Lees of Old Virginia".
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The scene with the Courier. There's very little Foreshadowing leading up to it, it features three characters, two of whom 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 saddest songs in Broadway history, means that 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.
• Cant Unhear It: In the eyes of fans, William Daniels simply is John Adams. In fact, this trope is why John Adams doesn't appear in Hamilton—Lin-Manuel Miranda is ALSO a fan of 1776 and knew that any actor who took the role would invariably be compared to Daniels.
• Designated Villain: John Dickinson, the other Pennsylvania delegate (sorry, Judge Wilson), and Edward Rutledge, the South Carolina delegate and de facto speaker for the Deep South. Neither of them are true villains (the real Rutledge didn't even care all that much for slavery), but just happen to have different ideas about what is best for America and their own colonies/states. The Dickinson of film is admittedly an Anti-Villain who merges with the historical one when he leaves Congress to join the Army, but seems to be perfectly all right with accepting whatever conditions England sets. The historical Dickinson, however, co-wrote On the Necessity of Taking Up Arms with Jefferson (it was Dickinson's work that Adams quotes in "But, Mr. Adams") and his opposition was founded primarily on his belief that a peaceful rapprochement was more desirable than attempting to defeat the powerful British army. He would go on to become a signer of the United States Constitution.
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • Dickinson. Over half the fanbase is more in love with Dickinson than they are with Adams. Although how much of a Draco he actually was is up for debate; see Designated Villain above.
  • John Cullum's golden singing voice gets Rutledge a few fans.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Surprisingly enough, Edward Rutledge. While his removal of the slavery clause is despicable, he gets to deliver one Hell of a Showstopper where he rightfully calls out the North for their involvement in the slave trade, in a performance so much passionate, that even John Adams has no retort. His actions are clearly immoral, but he stands out as the strongest and most impressive opponent that our heroes face, even more so than Dickinson.
  • Abigail Adams only gets to show up for a few times, but her intelligent nature and loving relationship with her husband causes her to be highly endearing.
  • Richard Henry Lee disappears from the show early on, but his Large Ham attitude and performance of “The Lees it Old Virginia” makes him a huge standout. His original actor even won the Tony for his work.
  • Martha Jefferson only gets two scenes. One where she makes out with her husband, and another where she gets to belt some impressive high notes. Her original actress Betty Buckley went on to become a theatre legend.
• Estrogen Brigade: Adams. Dickinson. Jefferson. Rutledge. Pick any character with so much as one line, and there's probably a group of fans out there with the hots for him.
• Fandom Rivalry: Fans of Hamilton have been known to warn people away from watching this show just because Adams and Hamilton hated each other. Never mind that Lin-Manuel Miranda is a stated fan of 1776, includes several Shout Outs 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 were obnoxious and disliked, and both gave contemporary rivals and historians alike a lot of fodder for criticism.
• Fight Scene Failure: The cane fight between Adams and Dickinson is rather unconvincing, mostly consisting of the two grappling while Adams tries to hit Dickinson's cane. Granted, they're politicians, not soldiers, and the others present make sure it ends quickly.
• Foe Yay Shipping: Adams and Dickinson due to the fact that both men are drawn as foils who are equally committed to their opposing causes, Dickinson's elegant charm, and the gracious way Dickinson and Adams behave towards each other when Adams finally defeats Dickinson.
• Genius Bonus:
  • When Franklin's told that his son William has been taken prisoner, after making certain he's been unharmed, he jovially asks "Why'd they arrest the little bastard?" Obviously this is because father and son are at odds with each other over independence, but William was actually illegitimate and so literally was a bastard.
  • Sharp-eyed viewers will note that, during the choreography for the song "Cool, 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.
  • Charles Thomson's non-answer to Adams asking if he stands with him or Dickinson, telling Adams that he stands with Washington, could well be a nod to the real Thomson's historical friendship with Dickinson. In a political sense the real Thomson was a revolutionary through-and-through, who first met Dickinson when he visited him in Philadelphia try to convert him to the Independence faction. On a personal level, though, his letters back and forth with Dickinson after Dickinson had left the Congress are not only extremely affectionate and caring but mention Thomson's (private) hope previously that the rest of Congress would effectively slow down to allow Dickinson to "catch up".
  • Lyman Hall ultimately comes to the decision 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 the creation of one of the most important bastions of liberal democracy in the history of the world is deliciously ironic.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Adams, in an attempt to brighten up his wife's mood, mentions that women in Virgina were "pale, puny things." Martha would later die of childbirth complications, and Jefferson was heartbroken.
  • 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 Historical Hero Upgrade 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 Thomson 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 Gone Horribly Right.
  • On the flip side, Adams was right after all, unfortunately: slavery went on to be the single biggest black mark on the American revolution, and the thing most likely to be condemned about the Declaration (aside from outright mentioning “Indian savages”) is folding to slave owning interests and removing the anti-slavery plank.
  • All of South Carolina's posturing about claiming to speak for the Deep South and threatening not to deliver on unanimity? No points for guessing which state was the first to secede from the Union during The American Civil War.
  • Martha Jefferson's lines in the last verse of "He Plays The Violin":
    When Heaven calls to me
    Sing me no sad elegy
    Say I died loving bride
    Loving wife, loving life.

  She died only six years after the period portrayed in the film — in fact, those are said to actually be the words on her tombstone.

• Hilarious in Hindsight: "Wake up, Franklin! We're going to New Brunswick!" Well, it was funny a few years ago, anyway.
  • "No one will ever remember the name of James Wilson."
  • Morrison complains that his fellow New Yorkers "speak very fast and very loud, and nobody listens to anyone else"... which may be oddly fitting if they always speak in rap.
• Ho Yay:
  • Dickinson and Wilson.
  • Adams and Jefferson is a popular ship due to their closeness in the play and Real Life... and the staging of "But, Mr. Adams", when the two men are leaning very closely into each other while singing about how sexually frustrated they are.
  • Rutledge and Hall.
  • And though the General doesn't appear, the way Thomson speaks of him reads like a crush. "It's almost as if he's writing them to me."
• Jerkass Woobie: John Adams. Most of Congress can hardly stand him, and you can't exactly blame them when he acts like such an abysmally cantankerous ass. Still, despite his sour disposition, John is a principled man who cares deeply for his country, and the incredible struggles he goes through to secure independence makes it hard not to feel bad for him.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • "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).
  • The terrifyingly long odds that the Continental Army faces in winning this precious independence loom offstage like all-devouring shadows throughout the ENTIRE DRAMA, and there's no letup by the end - the military situation is every bit as grim as it had been in the beginning- with no real hints as to how it can possibly improve. The Continental Army seems to have no hope of winning this precious independence ... or even winning a decisive battle against the British army ... or even offering a decent fight against them ... or, at some points during the show, even keeping itself together and in the field for another week. The never-ending mood of hopelessness isn't just pointed out by the anti-independence faction - it's pointed out by the army's Commander-in-Chief with every headquarters dispatch! Someone who came to the show with no knowledge of American history might come away with the notion that they'd just watched a group of men argue and fight for an absolutely hopeless cause.
  • Audiences who are handy with a history book know that Washington's last dispatch details him prepping for the Battle of Long Island / Brooklyn Heights. The battle will be a disaster for the Americans and Washington will come close to losing the entire war - and American independence with it. None of the nightmare scenarios that anti-independence faction have been warning against are exaggerated or far-fetched - the British forces are about to make them all too real.
  • In the finale, the delegates involved in the signing slowly freeze in place mirroring the Robert Pine painting, "Congress Voting Independence", as the Liberty Bell chimes. Notably, the bells tolls are incredibly eerie paired with the building score, rather than a triumphant unanimous call to independence, since even taking into account the Foregone Conclusion that they'll win the Revolutionary War, if they didn't, every one of those men would be branded as traitors and hanged.
• One-Scene Wonder: Well, Two Scene Wonder. We see Martha Jefferson snogging Thomas, and then she sings "He Plays the Violin" before she goes off to snog Thomas again.
  • Richard Henry Lee has only one song near the beginning of the musical before fading back to unimportance. This was enough to net his original actor a Tony.
  • "The Courier" doesn't even get a name, but his song "Mama, Look Sharp" is one of the saddest songs ever performed on Broadway and serves as a harsh reality check for the war for independence - while we're seeing the politicians debate independence in Congress, there are hundreds of men fighting and dying for it at that moment.
• Tear Jerker: "Mama, Look Sharp"
• Unpopular Popular Character: John Adams is obnoxious and disliked In-Universe, but audiences love him for his great wit and willingness to fight for what he believes in, no matter what. In fact, John's unpopularity with the other members of Congress causes some of the show's greatest dramatic and comedic moments.
• Watch It for the Meme:
  • The film has had a very small revival amongst William & Mary students who first learn about it by seeing a clip of Jefferson's and Adams' argument over "inalienable," in which their school is treated as superior to Harvard.
  • Thanks to Hamilton, the comments on Youtube videos for "Sit Down, John" tend to be filled with people finishing "...YOU FAT MOTHERFUCKER!"
    • Although, according to Lin-Manuel Miranda, it should be "YOU FAT MOTHER FUCKSTICK!

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