1776 the musical (film) was our entertainment last night

At the Estates last night, a large group enjoyed the movie, "1776 The Musical" (1972), adapted from an earlier stage play, which was adapted from the history of the drafting and writing/approval of the Declaration of Independence. I hadn't seen it during the bicentennial, and really enjoyed it. I found it about as accurate as a film could be for something adapted from a book/play adapted from actual history. After all, one could fill a library with important books on this event and biographies of all the people of the Continental Congress. Some critics of the time complained the timeline was wrong--too condensed.

So, I checked this "wrong timeline" idea with the Library of Congress which noted there were numerous drafts then 5 men who worked on it, and then about a week when the whole group met. Considering what we get today as "news," I'd call this accurate.

"Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia behind a veil of Congressionally imposed secrecy in June 1776 for a country wracked by military and political uncertainties. In anticipation of a vote for independence, the Continental Congress on June 11 appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston as a committee to draft a declaration of independence. The committee then delegated Thomas Jefferson to undertake the task. Jefferson worked diligently in private for days to compose a document. Proof of the arduous nature of the work can be seen in the fragment of the first known composition draft of the declaration, which is on public display here for the first time.

Jefferson then made a clean or "fair" copy of the composition declaration, which became the foundation of the document, labeled by Jefferson as the "original Rough draught." Revised first by Adams, then by Franklin, and then by the full committee, a total of forty-seven alterations including the insertion of three complete paragraphs was made on the text before it was presented to Congress on June 28. After voting for independence on July 2, the Congress then continued to refine the document, making thirty-nine additional revisions to the committee draft before its final adoption on the morning of July 4 . . ." https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/declara3.html

We've been having a film series for the 250th anniversary celebration.