at Albany. The Indians aired their grievances, and the delegates recommended appropriate action.
The Albany Congress, however, transcended its original purpose of solving Indian problems. It declared a union of the American colonies “absolutely necessary for their preservation,” and the colonial representatives present adopted the Albany Plan of Union. Drafted by Benjamin Franklin, the plan provided that a president appointed by the King act with a grand council of delegates chosen by the assemblies, each colony to be represented in proportion to its financial contributions to the general treasury. The government was to have charge of all British interests in the west – Indian treaties, trade, defense, and settlement. But none of the colonies accepted Franklin’s plan, for none wished to surrender either the power of taxation or control over the development of the