*Benjamin Franklin in 1759* A proposal presented by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress in the summer of 1754. The Congress had been convened to discuss defenses against the threat of France and relations with Native tribes, during the [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Topic Index/French and Indian War]]. A decade earlier [Canassatego](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canassatego), an [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Topic Index/Iroquois]] negotiator of the 1744 [Treaty of Lancaster]([Treaty of Lancaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lancaster),) between the Haudenosaunee and the colonies, had complained of how difficult it was to make agreements with each colony's representative separately, and suggested that the colonies adopt a federation like that of his people. Canassatego had negotiated with [[Thomas Penn]] on land cessions to Pennsylvania, so it's possible Franklin may have been aware of his suggestion. Franklin proposed unifying the colonies "under one government as far as might be necessary for defense and other general important purposes." Franklin would have been well aware of other purposes, since he had served as deputy postmaster for the colonies in the late 1730s. Representation would be proportional to colony size, but in another twist that seems to echo native practices, each colony would have a single vote and decisions were to be made not by majority but by consensus. In an interesting demonstration of the power and pitfalls of consensus, Franklin was able to resolve the delegates' objections to his proposal and get their agreement to send it to the British Board of Trade and the colonial assemblies. Both the assemblies and the British rejected the plan because neither had been involved in the negotiation toward the consensus; so each thought the plan made too many concessions to the other side.  *[Franklin's 1754 cartoon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Join,_or_Die "Join, or Die") encouraging support for the Congress.*