The United States Declaration of Independence described thirteen colonies as becoming independent states.
The thirteen British colonies along the Atlantic coast acted together through the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. The declaration’s original title referred to “the thirteen united States of America,” and its conclusion announced that the colonies were 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. They did not yet form the modern United States with its present fifty states.
The wording can cause a historical mix-up: Congress voted by colony, and each colony’s delegation cast one collective vote. New York initially abstained on the independence resolution because its delegation lacked authorization, but the declaration ultimately represented all thirteen colonies.