Am. Gov. #2

I love the musical 1776. I had the opportunity to go see the show performed professionally 2 summers ago with my parents in Sacramento. We laughed and cried with John Adams as he tried desperately to bring about the independence of the American colonies.
In the back of my mind I always doubted the historical accuracy of this beloved musical. I always assumed that the writer needed a central figure to base the story around, and so he chose John Adams for his hero. I knew the subplot with Rodney from Delaware was fairly accurate, because my mom is from that small state, and glows anytime she can boast that Delaware is considered the first colony to join the union. Aside from little assumptions like that, I never really took the time to find discrepancies between what really happened and what was portrayed.
In my American Government and Society class, however, we have been learning about what really happened to bring about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I was delighted to discover that John Adams really did play a large role. I was surprised to find out that the actual voting took place on July 2, 1776, and most of the signatures were given a month later. I was still impressed with Dickinson's willingness to serve in the militia even though he did not feel that signing the Declaration of Independence was the right thing to do.
The main thing I have learned in my limited study of the birth of our great country, is that the people involved were great people. They were heroes, to be sure, but they were still people. They were courageous, but they had fears and worries, and families, just as we all do. They were people who did great things. And I respect them for that.