Thirteen original colonies are named in the United States Declaration of Independence.
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 units that declared independence from Great Britain in 1776.
The declaration’s closing section refers to the representatives of the “united States of America,” but the document’s formal grievance section is addressed to the king and reflects the experience of the thirteen colonies. These colonies were geographically diverse, stretching along the Atlantic seaboard from New Hampshire to Georgia.
The phrase “original colonies” can cause confusion because several other British colonies existed in North America. East and West Florida, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and other territories did not join the revolutionary declaration. The thirteen colonies later became the first states of the United States, although their boundaries and political structures changed substantially after independence.