A history of the United States of America; its people and its institutions . F GOVERNMENT. Franklins Plan of Union.—A convention of delegatesfrom the northern colonies, to devise measures of defence against the French, was held at Al-bany in 1754. Benjamin Franklinwas one of the delegates, and pro-posed a plan for a union of the colo-nies, which was accepted by the con-vention, though it was not adoptedby the country. The colonies, jeal-ous of their independence, thoughtthat it took too much power fromthem to give to the general govern-ment The British authorities thoughtthat it gave too much
A history of the United States of America; its people and its institutions . F GOVERNMENT. Franklins Plan of Union.—A convention of delegatesfrom the northern colonies, to devise measures of defence against the French, was held at Al-bany in 1754. Benjamin Franklinwas one of the delegates, and pro-posed a plan for a union of the colo-nies, which was accepted by the con-vention, though it was not adoptedby the country. The colonies, jeal-ous of their independence, thoughtthat it took too much power fromthem to give to the general govern-ment The British authorities thoughtthat it gave too much power to the colonies. Betweenthese opposite jealousies the plan fell to the ground.^ Before leaving home to attend the convention, Franklin, to whomthe necessity for union seemed great, made a warm appeal for it in hispaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, and headed it with a rude but sig-nificant wood-cut. This represented the colonies by a snalce cut intothirteen pieces, each piece marked with the initial letter of the nameol a colony. Under it was the motto Unite or die,. Benjamin Fkanklin. LATER DEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNMENT. 487 What Franklin Proposed.—The following were theleading features of Franklins plan. He suggested Philadel-phia, the most central large city, as the capital of the pro-posed confederacy. The government sitting here was toconsist of a grand council, elected every third year by thecolonies, but meeting once a year; and a governor-generalappointed by the king and with power of veto over all central government was to have the power to makegeneral laws, to levy taxes, to regulate commerce, and toperform other governmental duties. The proposal was inadvance of public opinion, and was rejected, but Franklinlived to see its essential features embodied in the Constitu-tion of the United States. The Stamp Act Congress,—The next step toward colo-nial union was taken in 1765, when the oppressive actionsof the British government caused the colonies to elec
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