Georgia, founded in 1732, completed the traditional group of the Thirteen Colonies.
The Province of Georgia was established under a charter granted to trustees, with James Oglethorpe becoming its best-known early leader. Its founding came more than a century after Virginia, the first permanently settled English colony, was established at Jamestown in 1607.
Georgia was the southernmost of the British mainland colonies and served as a buffer between South Carolina and Spanish Florida. Its early settlement was shaped by military concerns, agriculture, trade, and restrictions on slavery that were later removed.
The phrase “Thirteen Colonies” became especially important during the American Revolution. These colonies joined in the Continental Congress, declared independence in 1776, and eventually formed the United States. Georgia’s founding date explains why it is commonly described as the last colony added to the traditional thirteen, even though colonial boundaries and earlier settlement projects were more complicated.