The award-winning “1776, the Musical” is exactly what you might expect: a dramatization of “the course of human events” in that steamy hot summer that led to the Declaration of Independence.

The musical covers just one month of that history, June 2 through July 4, the passing days marked by a large onstage calendar.

Those familiar with the American Revolution will notice many historical inaccuracies, which provide an entertaining scavenger hunt. There was, for example, no “left” or “right” to politics back then, and John Adams was hardly “obnoxious and disliked.” Also, in a convenient bit of revisionist history, the authors centered the conflict on slavery and on the division between northern and southern states, which was not a point of contention in declaring independence.

To be fair, the drama is necessarily an invention: The meetings of the Congress were held in secret, and what we know of them comes from later and secondary sources.

But the point of “1776, the Musical” is not to deliver a history lesson. It is, more importantly, to portray the high drama of ordinary people who had the courage to argue, struggle, risk and persevere in order to achieve something extraordinary. The musical helps audiences relate to those historical giants, and its goal is to spark interest, to impel people to go find out more, which it does admirably.

Paliku Theatre’s “1776, the Musical,” directed by Miles Phillips and designed by R. Andrew Doan, Lloyd S. Riford III and Anna Foster, combines physical sets with video projections to convey the many different settings. Their clever design makes the most of Paliku’s stage, and scenes transition smoothly between indoor/outdoor spaces, underscore audience perspective and at times even combine indoors/outdoors in one set.

An ensemble work, “1776, the Musical” involves many interconnected roles, including important nonsinging roles, such as John Hancock (Lenny Klompus), president of the Congress; Pennsylvania’s John Dickinson (Christopher Denton); the Custodian (Mo Radke); and the Secretary (Richard Bragdon), each memorably performed.

While the larger story is about the Congress, the musical centers on John Adams, played by a passionate Eli Foster, who fuels the plot with scenes alternating between his private and public worlds.

Adams had a close, supportive relationship with his intelligent and capable wife, Abigail, wonderfully portrayed and sung by Kate Sarff. Emotionally intimate but physically distant, they share a stage and speak their correspondence, never touching.

In “1776, the Musical,” Adams’ closest ally is Benjamin Franklin, played to perfection by Gary Morris. He is a joy to watch. Adams’ other main ally is played by Neil Scheibelhut, who captures the lusty, lanky awkwardness of a young Thomas Jefferson.

Composer/author Sherman Edwards set the emotional climax in “Molasses to Rum,” a song exposing the hypocrisy of the delegates who oppose the slavery that produces the molasses that is made into the rum that the representatives drink. With the stage flooded in blood-red light, Larry Paxton, striking as Edward Rutledge of South Carolina and with the essential vocal power born of operatic training, belts home the lesson and provides the turning point in the vote for independence.

The finest song in Edwards’ score is far and away the Courier’s “Momma, Look Sharp,” nicely delivered by KoDee Martin.

Also fun to watch are Jeff Brackett as the comic Richard Henry Lee from Virginia, and Vanessa Manuel-Mazzullo as Martha Jefferson.

Accents come and go, music is uneven and lighting could use more subtlety, but that famously long stretch without music in the middle of the first half (Scene 3) preserves momentum, and Edwards’ musical numbers are integrated well.

Music director So Jin Kimura keeps pacing smooth and balance excellent so that every word is audible, and miking is generally good, the sound level comfortable throughout.