William Daniels as John Adams

John Adams is, by far, the most important guy in this movie. (Sorry, Jefferson!) True, Jefferson did write the Declaration of Independence, but Adams is the driving force behind the whole thing. If you don't mind me getting literary, Adams is the main protagonist, meaning he goes through a fundamental change over the course of the movie. He goes from being rigid (I love, you JA!) to becoming more flexible and willing to back down on issues. "Oh, very well, I withdraw it." - Adams, 1776. Thus, the antagonist, meaning what causes the change, is a combination of Dickinson (he finally does something good! Just kidding, see Dickinson’s page) and pure events. Franklin and Jefferson also push Adams in this new direction. There are other, smaller protagonist/antagonist 'clashes' going on, but for my purposes, the aforementioned one is the most significant to the movie.