Albany Congress

The Albany Congress (June 19 – July 11, 1754), also known as the Albany Convention of 1754, was a meeting of representatives sent by the legislatures of seven of the British colonies in British America: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Those not in attendance included Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Representatives met daily at the City Hall in Albany, New York, from June 19 to July 11, 1754, to discuss better relations with the Native American tribes and common defensive measures against the French threat from Canada in the opening stage of the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France. Delegates did not have the goal of creating an American nation; rather, they were colonists with the more limited mission of pursuing a treaty with the Mohawks and other major Iroquois tribes. This was the first time that American colonists had met together, and it provided a model that came into use in setting up the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, as well as the First Continental Congress in 1774, which were preludes to the American Revolution. Overview The Albany Congress was the first time in the 18th century that American colonial representatives met to discuss some manner of formal union. In the 17th century, some New England colonies had formed a loose association called the New England Confederation, principally for purposes of defense, as raiding was frequent by French and allied Indian tribes. In the 1680s, the British government created the Dominion of New England as a unifying government over the colonies between the Delaware River and Penobscot Bay, but it was dissolved in 1689. Jacob Leisler summoned an intercolonial congress which met in New York on May 1, 1690 to plan concerted action against the French and Indians, but he attracted only the colonies as far south as Maryland. History The Albany delegates spent most of their time debating Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union to create a unified level of colonial government. The delegates voted approval of a plan that called for a union of 11 colonies, with a president appointed by the British Crown. Each colonial assembly would send 2 to 7 delegates to a "grand council," which would have legislative powers. The Union would have jurisdiction over Indian affairs.