Thirteen colonies were represented when the Declaration of Independence was adopted, an event honored by America250.
The thirteen colonies were British settlements along the Atlantic coast of North America. They declared themselves independent states in 1776 and later formed the United States. The colonies differed in geography, economy, religion, and political organization, but their delegates acted together in the Continental Congress.
The colonies were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Their names remain connected to the first thirteen states of the United States.
The number thirteen also appears on early American symbols, including the thirteen stripes on the United States flag and thirteen arrows held by the eagle on the Great Seal. A common mistake is to count later states or all British colonies in North America; America250’s founding reference is specifically the thirteen colonies that declared independence.