The Treaty of Paris recognized thirteen former colonies as free and independent states.
The treaty, signed in 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States. Its first article formally acknowledged the independence and sovereignty of the states that had previously been Britain’s Thirteen Colonies.
The thirteen were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The treaty also set national boundaries and granted American fishing rights in waters near Newfoundland and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
The number thirteen refers to the original states, not the modern total of fifty states. It also differs from the number of colonies represented at particular meetings: Georgia missed the First Continental Congress, while Rhode Island did not participate in the 1787 Constitutional Convention.