Thirteen British colonies united to form the United States, the founding group remembered by America250.
The colonies stretched along the Atlantic coast of North America, from New Hampshire in the north to Georgia in the south. They were not governed as one single unit before independence; each had its own institutions, laws, and local political arrangements.
Historians commonly group them into New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. Virginia was the first permanently settled English colony in the group, while Georgia was the last, established in 1732. Their cooperation grew through disputes with Britain over taxation, representation, and imperial authority.
The thirteen colonies declared independence in 1776 and later became the original states of the United States. The phrase should not be confused with the later number of states in the Union, which increased as new states entered the country.