Thirteen British colonies became the original United States in 1776.
The colonies stretched along the Atlantic coast of North America, from New Hampshire in the north to Georgia in the south. They were governed separately but increasingly coordinated their resistance to British policies during the 1760s and 1770s. The Second Continental Congress represented these colonies when it declared independence.
The Declaration of Independence listed grievances against King George III and announced that the colonies were forming a new nation. After independence, the thirteen states operated under the Articles of Confederation before adopting the Constitution in 1787. Their names remain represented by the thirteen stripes on the modern United States flag.
The thirteen colonies were not identical in culture or economy. New England included Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire; the Middle Colonies included New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; and the Southern Colonies included Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The phrase does not include later additions such as Vermont, Kentucky, or Tennessee.