Albany Plan

The Albany Plan was proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress in 1754. It was an early attempt at forming a union of colonies that would unite English colonists with mainland England to assist in defending the New World during the French and Indian War. The plan was never effected, though after the Revolutionary War, the Albany Plan of Union was used to help write the Articles of Confederation. It established an elected intercolonial legislature without the power to tax.

Background

Benjamin Franklin took many of the ideas from the Iroquois Confederacy of what is now Upstate New York.Bruce Johnson, "Haudenosaunee-U.S. History: Haudenosaunee Influences on the U.S. Government," from "Neighbor to Neighbor, Nation to Nation", published by Neighbors of the Onandaga Nation, n.d., see [http://www.peacecouncil.net/noon/articles/government.html Neighbors of the Onandaga Nation website] . Accessed September 2, 2008.] He visited the Iroquois in 1744 and 1753, and at least once, in an 1751 open letter, held up the Native American Confederacy as a model for colonial government. The visit in 1753 was at least partial inspiration for Franklin:quote|A year later, at a joint meeting of Iroquois and colonial delegates in Albany, Franklin proposed his “Albany Plan,” the first attempt to unite the colonies, a combination of Iroquois and European elements. The Albany Plan failed to gain ratification by the colonies, but served as a rough draft for later federal designs of Franklin for the Articles of Confederation, as well as his part in debates over the Constitution.|Bruce Johnson, "Haudenosaunee-U.S. History...."}

The Plan

The Albany Plan of Union called for an act of the Parliament of Great Britain to establish a general government, administered by a crown-appointed President-General and a Grand Council representing the people of the colonies, with each colony's representation being based on wealth.

ee also

* Articles of Confederation
* Ganondagan State Historic Site
* Iroquois

References