Thirteen colonies declared independence from Britain in the Declaration of Independence.
The colonies 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 original political union that became the United States.
The phrase “thirteen colonies” refers to Britain’s mainland North American colonies that joined the revolutionary movement. It does not mean that every British colony in North America supported independence. Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and other territories remained outside the new United States.
The thirteen colonies did not all have identical economies, populations, or political structures. New England relied heavily on maritime trade, the Middle Colonies were known for agriculture and commerce, and the Southern Colonies had plantation economies shaped by slavery. Their shared opposition to British policies eventually led to independence and the creation of a new federal republic.