Plans for a National Union

The common danger, as we have seen, caused a confederation of New England colonies in 1643, but the national idea was lacking, and it was short-lived. A half a century later, William Penn put forth a plan for a general union of all the colonies, for their mutual welfare, in which he proposed the appointment of persons in each colony, who should meet at specified times, in a general congress to mature plans for the common good, whose presiding officer should be a high commissioner appointed by the crown, and in time of war should command all of the colonial forces. Penn's plan was commended by many thoughtful persons, and it was likened to the Grecian Amphictyonic Council. After that, writers in England and the colonies publicly discussed the topic, not with any idea of the independence of the colonists as subjects of Great Britain, but with a feeling that a national union here would redound to the glory and happiness of Great Britain and her American citizens. When, early in the last century, public attention was called to the evident designs of the French to supplant the English in America, Daniel Coxe, who had been a prominent man in New Jersey, published a volume in London (1772), in which he proposed that all the British colonies here should be united by a national covenant, in a national government, over which a supreme viceroy or governor, appointed by the crown, should preside in some part of America, the governors of the several colonies to be subordinate to him; and also that there should be a general congress of deputies chosen by the several colonies to promote unity of action in times of danger. Men of all shades of political opinion made similar suggestions; and Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia, recommended, not only a union of the colonies for mutual defence, but a confederation of the Indians then friendly toward the English, with the tribes more in the interior and under the influence of the French.

Meanwhile there had been several congresses or conventions of leading men in the colonies, having for their object the union of the people of the several provinces for the public good, or to cultivate the friendship of the Indians. One of these was held at Albany in 1684, composed of the officers of the governments of Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and Virginia, and sachems of the Five Nations. In 1693, Governor Fletcher, of New York, in compliance with a letter of instructions from the king, called a congress of commissioners from New England and other colonies to consult about the quotas of men and money which the several provinces should raise for common defence against the French. The call was so feebly answered that nothing was done by the few present. This was followed the next year by a meeting of commissioners at Albany with sachems of the Iroquois Confederacy, the object being to prevent the Five Nations from making a peace with the French in Canada.

When it was resolved to invade Canada with a land and naval force, in 1711, a convention was held at New London, Connecticut, to consult upon the matter, at which the governors of several of the colonies appeared and agreed upon the quotas. The expedition that followed, under Colonel Nicholson on land and Sir Hovenden Walker on the water, proved disastrous, as we have seen. In 1722, a congress of colonial officials and Indian sachems was held at Albany for the promotion of a friendly feeling and the strengthening of the alliance them existing with the Iroquois Confederacy. And in 1744, a similar congress, for the same purpose, met at Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, whereat over two hundred and fifty representatives of the Six (late Five) Nations were in attendance.

The last of these colonial congresses, all exhibiting tendencies toward a national union, was held at Albany in the summer of 1748, soon after news had reached the colonies of a preliminary treaty of peace having been signed by the commissioners of England and France. The congress was called for a two-fold purpose. The antagonisms between the royal governors and the people were alarming to the crown officers in America, and the latter wished to secure a colonial revenue through British interference, and not be subjected, in the matter, to the will or caprice of colonial assemblies. Foremost among these crown officers who were willing to abridge the rights of the people, were Governor Clinton, of New York, and Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts. They had promoted the assembling of the congress with a hope that that body would favor their scheme, and they were both there with their political friends. Another purpose of the meeting was the strengthening of the bond of friendship between the Six Nations and their savage neighbors on the west, and the English. A vast concourse of barbarians were there. The royal governors gained nothing for themselves; but a satisfactory arrangement was made with the Indians. They agreed that no Frenchman should abide within their borders; also, not to send any delegation to Canada, and to have their warriors ready for the service of the English whenever they should be called for.