Thirteen colonies are named in the Declaration of Independence, whose 1776 adoption America250 commemorates. The document presents the colonies collectively as “these United Colonies” and concludes by declaring them free and independent states.
The thirteen were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Together they formed the political community that declared independence from Great Britain.
The number thirteen refers to the colonies, not the number of states in the United States today. The nation began with those thirteen states, then expanded through territorial acquisition, admission of new states, and the creation of states in the West and Midwest. The United States now has fifty states.
The document’s list of grievances addresses the British king in the name of the united colonies. It does not list every population group living in North America, nor does it describe the later territories that eventually became part of the country.