Show Synopsis:
John Adams is annoying the rest of the Second Continental Congress with his proposals on independence, and complains in a letter to his wife Abigail. Benjamin Franklin suggests he ask someone else to propose his plan, since Adams is so disliked by the other delegates. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia is completely game to do it, though he annoys Adams. A month later, he returns with the approval of the Virginia House of Burgesses. The Congress votes to postpone the question of independence, and Adams reminds John Hancock that he can break all ties, but instead of breaking that ties he breaks another tie - the proposal that a result on independence must be reached unanimously. Adams asks for a declaration on independence to postpone the vote, and Hancock appoints a committee to oversee the declaration, but none of them can agree who should write it. Thomas Jefferson reluctantly takes the job, but he is slow to begin, so Adams sends for his wife Martha. A few weeks later, Adams tries to win over a few more state delegates for independence. Jefferson finishes the Declaration and many delegates suggest changes to it. The question of slavery and the economic stability of the new nation causes the delegates to disband. John Adams tries to stay optimistic, and Congress votes to remove the clause on slavery from the Constitution. Pennsylvania is the last state that needs to voice their opinion, and Franklin asks all the delegates to vote separately instead of proclaiming a single opinion. The question of independence comes down to James Wilson, who votes ?yes? so that he will not be remembered as the man who prevented American independence. Congress signs the Declaration on July 4, 1776 while the Liberty Bell clangs out in the night.

Character:
Edward Rutledge, a representative from South Carolina.

Song Context:
Thomas Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration condemns slavery and proposes that it should not be a part of the new nation's economy, and the southern state representatives, especially Edward Rutledge, are outraged. They believe that the northern delegates are being hypocrites and think that they're protecting their own interests, when in reality the slave trade concentrated in the southern states generates the molasses that produces the rum that the northern states trade with so often. 	

Fun Facts:
1. This musical is based on the real events of the Second Continental Congress and the American Revolutionary War in the summer of 1776. 
2. This is the only Broadway score Sherman Edwards ever wrote. He worked on it for 10 years before it opened on Broadway. 
3. This musical was the first show to be performed in its entirety at the White House during the Nixon administration.