- 1776 It is the oppressively hot and humid summer of 1776 in Philadelphia, and the Continental Congress is growing weary of the heat, and of the eternal bickering which marks its deliberations. General Washington is in the field against the British, but the Congress is still unresolved as to whether to make a final break from the mother country. Boston firebrand John Adams, assisted by his good ...www.bact.org/1776.html