Thirteen colonies were represented by the delegates who adopted the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration’s original title referred to the “thirteen united States of America.” The colonies were British possessions along the Atlantic coast that joined the revolutionary movement and sent representatives to the Second Continental Congress. Their delegates approved the Declaration on July 4, 1776.
The thirteen were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Together they formed the political unit that declared independence from Great Britain.
The number is sometimes confused with the 50 states in the modern United States or with the 13 stripes on the national flag. The stripes symbolize the original colonies, while the stars represent the states in the Union. America250 connects the modern nation to this original group without suggesting that the country had its present borders or population in 1776.