Thirteen states formed the original United States at independence.
The thirteen were the former British colonies along the Atlantic coast: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
These colonies declared independence in 1776 and became the founding states of the United States. Their representatives participated in the Continental Congress and later helped create the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
The phrase “thirteen colonies” refers to the colonies before independence, while “original states” describes their status after the United States was formed. Vermont was not one of the thirteen colonies in the British imperial system and joined the Union separately in 1791 as the fourteenth state.