Thirteen British colonies formed the United States after the American Revolution.
These colonies occupied the Atlantic coast of North America and were separately administered under British rule. Their traditional groupings were the four New England colonies, four Middle Colonies, and five Southern Colonies. Together, they broke from the British Crown and became the original states of the United States.
The colonies did not all develop in the same way. Virginia was established at Jamestown in 1607, while Georgia, the last of the thirteen colonies, was founded in 1732. Their economies, religious cultures, labor systems, and relationships with Native nations varied widely.
Political cooperation grew during disputes with Britain, especially after the French and Indian War. Colonial resistance to taxation and imperial control led to the Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, and eventually the Revolutionary War. The thirteen colonies were not the same as all British colonies in North America; British possessions also included areas that later became Canada, Florida, and Caribbean colonies.