3. Authorities & decisions: The Albany Plan and intercolonial cooperation

Decision-makers, laws and consequences

Benjamin Franklin presented the Albany Plan of Union in 1754 during negotiations involving colonial delegates and the British government. The proposed grand council and crown-appointed president-general would coordinate defense and some Indigenous affairs.

Colonial legislatures feared loss of autonomy, while imperial officials doubted the proposed balance of authority. The plan was not enacted and did not itself establish the later federal government.

Institutional consequences

The authorities identified above acted within institutions that determined who could govern, enforce decisions and challenge official power. The resulting changes to political participation, legal status, military control or property administration are part of the historical record of this specific event, rather than evidence that every later government followed the same path.