Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The musical opens with John Adams demanding that the delegates of the Second Continental Congress vote to declare independence from Great Britain. The delegates, however, are engaged in a serious debate about a pressing issue. During the song 'Sit Down, John,' what issue is being debated?
2. Adams, who by his own admission is 'obnoxious and disliked,' realizes that the Congress will never support an independence resolution if he proposes it. Benjamin Franklin suggests a more popular delegate put forth the resolution. Who ultimately proposes the independence resolution?
3. All the delegations have very strong opinions on the independence question, save one. Which colony perpetually 'abstains...courteously' whenever a vote is called?
4. The proceedings are occasionally interrupted by a weary dispatch rider with news from General Washington. Reports from the front are bleak: the troops are underfed, underpaid, under equipped, under trained, drunken and syphilitic. The general signs all his correspondence with 'G. Washington.' What musical score always proceeds his name?
5. Some colonies, such as New Jersey, are unanimous in their drive for independence, while others, such as South Carolina, oppose it. Delegate Caesar Rodney, frail and sick with cancer, was forced to ride back from his home state to break a deadlock among the delegates from his colony. Where did Rodney call home?
6. Delegate Samuel Chase refuses to vote for independence, fearing that Washington's ragtag army can never hope to defeat the mighty British forces. Adams and Franklin practically kidnap him and take him to New Jersey to witness the American army's marksmanship. This convinces Chase to vote for independence. Which colony does Chase represent?
7. '1776' was not a musical with a lot of female roles. In fact, there were only two. One was Martha Jefferson, who visits her lonely husband in Philadelphia as he struggles to write the Declaration of Independence. The other is John Adams' wife. What was her name?
8. The delegates have agreed that one colony voting nay would be enough to end talk of independence. Edward Rutledge tells Adams that in order to gain the approval of the Carolinas and Georgia, Jefferson would have to remove something from the Declaration. What divisive issue did the Southern delegates insist not be addressed by the Congress?
9. With eleven colonies voting for independence, it seems that Pennsylvania will cast the nay vote which will crush the movement. Everyone is surprised when James Wilson votes with Franklin, rather than with John Dickinson, who vocally opposed independence. Dickinson resigns his post as a delegate. As he leaves, he declares he will do something unexpected. What does Dickinson plan to do?
10. In 1972, '1776' was made into a film. President Richard Nixon, after seeing the film, convinced producer Jack L. Warner to cut one of the songs. Which song was eliminated in the theatrical release?
Source: Author
Czolgolz
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
LadyCaitriona before going online.
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