Albany Congress

Albany Congress 1754, meeting at Albany, N.Y., of commissioners representing seven British colonies in North America to treat with the Iroquois, chiefly because war with France impended. A treaty was concluded, but the Native Americans of Pennsylvania were resentful of a land purchase made by that colony at Albany and allied themselves with the French in the ensuing French and Indian War . The meeting was notable as an example of cooperation among the colonies, but Benjamin Franklin 's Plan of Union for the colonies, though voted upon favorably at Albany, was refused by the colonial legislatures (and by the crown) as demanding too great a surrender of their powers.

Bibliography: See R. Newbold, Albany Congress and the Plan of Union of 1754 (1955).

Albany Congress (1754) North American colonial conference to discuss Native American relations. Representatives from seven northern and middle colonies met Iroquois leaders and negotiated an alliance against the French. At this meeting Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for union of the colonies, which was rejected by the colonial governments.