1776 the Musical Taught Me To Love History

I attribute my loves of history and music to a fifth grade viewing of 1776 that happened annually in my elementary school. Decades later, I’m struck by how the nature of that musical–historically accurate (enough), singing, dancing, etc.–created such a rich learning experience for me. I was so enamored by it that I rented a VHS of the movie from what used to be called a video store and rigged up my uncle’s stereo system to create several cassette tapes I could take with me on long car rides. I’m dusting off my DVD as we speak.