The inevitable 4th of July quoteathon

[neadods]

Actual John Adams quote: "The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electrical rod smote the earth and out sprang General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his rod - and thenceforward these two conducted all the policies, negotiations, legislatures, and war."

1776 may have been a musical comedy, but it was more accurate historically than many a book published as history nowadays.

Comments

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

1776 is such a fun movie. I only wish modern historical films did such a good job with sourcing *their* material.

[cozit.livejournal.com]

It was a wonderful musical before they filmed it - which I'm glad they did. First saw it in the round (the only way it was first shown) in Philadelphia around the Bicentennial sometime... I think we actually went to see it twice. Considering the size of my family at the time, and that my Dad was working for the government, that says a lot about the show right there.

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

Poor John Adams just assumed he'd be forgotten, because he was... what is it, something and unpopular?

At least he had a great marriage, despite being apart for a lot of the time. One of my favorite lines from their letters is when Abigail teases him about turning 60, and he replies that if he had her within grabbing distance he'd show her he wasn't a day over 40.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I sometimes think that the reason why their marriage was so happy and passionate was because they didn't live with each other day in and day out.

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

It wasn't for lack of trying. After he'd spent years on and off in Philly getting the government established, he was home at last. He was off in another town doing a legal case when a letter came from someone official and Abigail opened it, as was usual. When she found out that they wanted to send him to FRANCE for years, she ripped the poor sender a new one. But John went, and she eventually joined him for a while.

[stlscape.livejournal.com]

Thoroughly enjoyed the live musical - we actually got to see it twice(!) That's where I learned a lot of my American history that I'd missed while living in Europe. I liked the live version a lot better than the film version, though.

[tacnukesoul.livejournal.com]

John Adams: It doesn't matter. I won't be in the history books anyway, only you. Franklin did this and Franklin did that and Franklin did some other damn thing. Franklin smote the ground and out sprang George Washington, fully grown and on his horse. Franklin then electrified him with his miraculous lightning rod and the three of them - Franklin, Washington, and the horse - conducted the entire revolution by themselves.
[pause]
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: I like it.