Thirteen colonies declared independence in the United States Declaration of Independence.
The colonies had been British possessions along the Atlantic coast of North America. Their delegates met in the Second Continental Congress and approved the Declaration in Philadelphia in 1776. The document described the colonies collectively as “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. Their names later influenced the thirteen stripes on the United States flag.
The number is sometimes confused with the twelve colonies that initially voted for independence on July 4. New York’s delegation abstained because it had not yet received authorization from its colonial legislature. New York later supported the measure.