Thirteen colonies were represented when the Declaration of Independence was adopted for the America250 anniversary.
The Declaration’s original formal title referred to the thirteen United States of America. These colonies were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The number thirteen is central to the symbolism of the United States’ founding era. It appears in the original national flag’s thirteen stars and stripes and remains visible in many American emblems. The colonies were British possessions before independence, but the Declaration stated that they were free and independent states.
The thirteen colonies should not be confused with the fifty states of the modern United States. The nation expanded westward and incorporated additional states over many decades. Vermont, for example, was not one of the original thirteen colonies represented in the Declaration, although it later joined the Union as a state.