Thirteen British colonies united to declare independence in the United States Declaration of Independence.
These colonies occupied much of Britain’s Atlantic seaboard in North America. They were grouped as the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. Although each colony had its own government and local institutions, shared opposition to British taxation and imperial control helped bring them together during the American Revolution.
The thirteen were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Their delegates formed the Continental Congress, which declared independence in 1776 and later coordinated the Revolutionary War.
The number can be confused with the number of states in the United States today or with the twelve colonies that initially sent delegates to the First Continental Congress. Georgia joined that Congress later, making twelve the initial number there, but all thirteen colonies were represented in the Second Continental Congress when independence was declared.