The Declaration of Independence represented 13 colonies in the America250 story.
The thirteen British colonies along the Atlantic coast declared themselves independent states in 1776. Their delegates acted through the Second Continental Congress, which approved the Declaration of Independence and issued it as a statement explaining the break with Great Britain.
The number 13 is not the number of original signers, states in the modern Union, or stars on the current flag. It refers specifically to the colonies that became the first United States: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The phrase “thirteen colonies” describes their status before independence. After declaring independence, they were described as thirteen states. America250 commemorates the founding moment in which those colonies asserted a shared national independence.