Thirteen colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, forming the original United States. These colonies occupied the Atlantic seaboard from New Hampshire in the north to Georgia in the south.
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 acted through the Second Continental Congress, first declaring the colonies independent states and then approving the formal Declaration on July 4.
The phrase “thirteen colonies” describes the British colonies that broke away, not thirteen territories created afterward. Vermont, for example, declared independence separately in 1777 and joined the Union in 1791 as the fourteenth state. The number thirteen later became a lasting national symbol, appearing on the Great Seal, the original flag’s stripes, and many commemorative designs associated with America250.