purpose. The best known of these plans was that presented to the Albany
Congress of 1754, which had been called to make effective preparation
for the inevitable struggle with the French and Indians. The beginning
of the troubles which culminated in the final breach with Great Britain
had quickly brought united action in the form of the Stamp Act
Congress of 1765, in the Committees of Correspondence, and then in the
Continental Congress.

It was not merely that the leaven of the Revolution was already working
to bring about the freer interchange of ideas; instinct and experience
led the colonies to united action. The very day that the Continental
Congress appointed a committee to frame a declaration of independence,
another committee was ordered to prepare articles of union. A month
later, as soon as the Declaration of Independence had been adopted, this
second committee, of which John Dickinson of Pennsylvania was chairman,
presented to Congress a report in the form of Articles of Confederation.
Although the outbreak of fighting made some sort of united action
imperative, this plan of union was subjected to debate intermittently
for over sixteen months and even after being adopted by Congress, toward
the end of 1777, it was not ratified by the States until March, 1781,
when the war was already drawing to a close. The exigencies of the hour
forced Congress, without any authorization, to act as if it had been
duly empowered and in general to proceed as if the Confederation had
been formed.

Benjamin Franklin was an enthusiast for union. It was he who had
submitted the plan of union to the Albany Congress in 1754, which with
modifications was recommended by that congress for adoption. It provided
for a Grand Council of representatives chosen by the legislature of
each colony, the members to be proportioned to the contribution of
that colony to the American military service. In matters concerning the
colonies as a whole, especially in Indian affairs, the Grand Council was
to be given extensive powers of legislation and taxation. The executive
was to be a President or Governor-General, appointed and paid by the
Crown, with the right of nominating all military officers, and with a
veto upon all acts of the Grand Council. The project was far in advance
of the times and ultimately failed of acceptance, but in 1775, with the
beginning of the troubles with Great Britain, Franklin took his Albany
plan and, after modifying it in a