How many colonies did the Declaration of Independence identify as the new United States?

The Declaration of Independence identified thirteen colonies as the new United States.

The document’s formal title was “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.” The thirteen colonies were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

These colonies had been British possessions along the Atlantic coast. Their delegates met in the Second Continental Congress and declared that the colonies were free and independent states. The phrase “United States” therefore originally referred to this group of thirteen states, not the fifty-state union that exists today.

A frequent mix-up concerns the vote on independence. Twelve colonial delegations voted for the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776, while New York initially abstained because its delegates lacked instructions. New York later supported independence, and the Declaration represented all thirteen colonies.