Good Thing: "John Adams"

I know I've already mentioned this, but I really recommend that everyone see it. As it is based on the Pulitzer-prize winning book by David McCullough, I feel fairly certain that it is historically accurate. I feel like I have a much better grasp of--and appreciation for--our country's founding just by watching this series, and I am amazed at the pieces of history I either forgot or never learned.

How, for instance, did I not know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (the "voice" and the "pen" of the Declaration of Independence) both died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the Declaration was ratified? Or that Adams, a lawyer in Boston before his days in politics, served as defense attorney for the British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre? I was very interested to learn how much wheeling and dealing occurred among the states to secure a unanimous vote for independence, and I had no awareness of the loving and egalitarian relationship between John and Abigail Adams, a marriage well ahead of its time.

The focus of the series is on Adams, but the scope is broad, and the cast of characters includes everyone from George Washington to Ben Franklin to Alexander Hamilton. Oh, and did I mention that I totally have a new fascination with Thomas Jefferson?