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The Albany Plan of Union, written by Benjamin Franklin, was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. On July 10, 1754, representatives from seven of the British North American colonies adopted the plan. Although never carried out, the Albany Plan was the first important proposal to conceive of the colonies as a collective whole united under one government.

====Why was a Centralized Government Necessary?====

Prior to the Albany Congress, a number of intellectuals and government officials had formulated and published several tentative plans for centralizing the colonial governments of North America. Imperial officials saw the advantages of bringing the colonies under closer authority and supervision, while colonists saw the need to organize and defend common interests. One figure of emerging prominence among this group of intellectuals was Pennsylvanian Benjamin Franklin. Earlier, Franklin had written to friends and colleagues proposing a plan of voluntary union for the colonies. Upon hearing of the Albany Congress, his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, published the political cartoon "Join or Die," which illustrated the importance of union by comparing the colonies to pieces of a snake’s body. The Pennsylvania government-appointed Franklin as a commissioner to the Congress, and on his way, Franklin wrote to several New York commissioners outlining ‘short hints towards a scheme for uniting the Northern Colonies’ by means of an act of the British Parliament.