Thirteen colonies were represented by the delegates who adopted the Declaration of Independence.
The colonies were British possessions along the Atlantic coast of North America. During the revolutionary crisis, their representatives met in the Second Continental Congress and eventually declared that the colonies were independent states. The declaration’s formal title begins, “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.”
The thirteen colonies were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Their delegates did not all sign the parchment on the same day, but the document represented the collective action of the thirteen colonial governments.
The number thirteen later became a recurring national symbol. The early United States flag used thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, while the Great Seal includes thirteen arrows and thirteen stars. America250 celebrations often use these symbols to connect the 1776 founding era with the 2026 anniversary.