Thirteen colonies were represented in the Second Continental Congress when it adopted the Declaration honored by America250.
The colonies 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 group that declared independence from Great Britain.
The Second Continental Congress first met in Philadelphia in May 1775, after fighting had begun at Lexington and Concord. It acted as a wartime coordinating government, directing military affairs, diplomacy, finance, and the movement toward independence.
The phrase “Thirteen Colonies” can be misleading if treated as a single unified country before independence. The colonies had separate governments and interests, but Congress brought their delegates together for common action. The Declaration transformed that cooperation into a claim of political independence.