Thirteen British colonies declared independence together in 1776, forming the historical foundation of America250.
The colonies occupied the Atlantic seaboard of North America and had developed separate governments, economies, and local identities under British rule. Their delegates acted together in the Second Continental Congress, which first approved the Lee Resolution and then adopted the Declaration of Independence.
The thirteen colonies became the original states of the United States after independence. They were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Their names and order are commonly remembered through lists of the original states.
A frequent confusion concerns Vermont, which declared independence from competing claims in 1777 but was not one of the thirteen colonies that signed the Declaration. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Maine also were not separate original colonies; each later became a state from existing states or territories.