1776

1776 is a musical written by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone which opened in 1969 and was adapted into a film version in 1972. It tells the story of the American colonies' Second Continental Congress in the days in which its members would debate upon the conditions of declaring independance from Great Britain. Historically, the script attempts to depict an accurate portraiture of the events, having used texts and documents from the time including transcripts and letters written by those involved, all amongst a myriad of songs, monologues and heated (sometimes deliberately comical) debate.

In 1982, the Muppets would spoof the musical in a segment filmed for the I Love Liberty television special. Kermit identifies their play notably as 1776 and certain Muppets have been cast as characters who specifically use dialogue from the film and recreate scenes such as a brawl between John Adams and John Dickinson after a volley of name-calling. The scene ends not in a song from the musical, but with a rendition of "Brotherhood of Man" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.