... If that wasn't enough, once they finally put together a draft of the Declaration to present to Congress, Edward Rutledge asks that the slavery abolishment be removed and after A LOT of deliberation, the clause had to be stricken to persuade the southern colonies to sign.
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson had the biggest impact on history out of anyone in 1776. John Adams was not only the sixth President, but he was one of America's great Secretaries of State, by arranging with England for the joint occupation of the Oregon country, obtaining from Spain the cession of the Floridas, and formulating with the President the Monroe Doctrine. In context to 1776, he is the hero. He is officious in that he gets things done. He pushed for independency and organized it all. He was also a very puritanical man. Dr. Benjamin Franklin was truly a Renaissance man. He was an American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer. The only American of the colonial period to earn a European reputation as a natural philosopher, he is best remembered in the United States as a patriot and diplomat. In the film he is the brains and prestige behind it all. Thomas Jefferson is most remembered for having writing the Declaration of Independence. He was also the third President as well as an apostle of agrarian democracy.
A formal declaration was necessary so it was in writing and therefore couldn't be changed on the spot by whoever wanted to. Also, it was the way to spread the word so the people of this new nation would know their civil liberties and other countries would recognize America as an independent nation. The formal declaration is witnessed and signed and sealed so it is acknowledged as legitimate.
This film can only be described as part spectacle and part historical comedy. ...
