Thirteen British colonies formed the original United States.
These colonies occupied much of the Atlantic coast of North America and later declared independence from Great Britain. They were grouped traditionally as the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. Their economies, religions, settlement patterns, and political institutions differed considerably.
The thirteen were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Georgia was the last of the thirteen to be established, in 1732.
The phrase “Thirteen Colonies” became especially common during the American Revolution. The colonies were not identical in government or culture, and they were not the only European colonies in North America. A frequent confusion is counting later U.S. states rather than the original British colonies that united during the independence movement.