In 1755, Hopkins was elected to his first term as governor, defeating his predecessor William Greene by a small margin. The year was mostly occupied with legislation and work related to the pending war with France. Braddock's defeat and the occupation of Crown Point led the colony to send forces to Albany. Late in the previous year, Hopkins and his Attorney-General Daniel Updike were delegates from Rhode Island to a meeting in New York called the Albany Congress, which convened to discuss the common defense of the collective colonies and to hold a conference with the five nations of Indians to secure their assistance in thwarting French encroachment. Here, he and others considered Benjamin Franklin's early plan for uniting the colonies, but the principles of the plan were rejected in both the colonies and Great Britain. As the war with France developed in February 1756, the General Assembly ordered the raising of 500 Rhode Island men for the expedition to Lake George in New York.