Thirteen Colonies
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Betsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 states. |
The
Thirteen Colonies were thirteen
British colonies in
North America, separately
chartered and governed, that rebelled, signed the
Declaration of Independence in 1776 becoming independent sovereign states, thereby establishing the
United States of America.
|
The 13 states threw off colonial rule in 1775 and declared independence in 1776. |
Contemporaneous documents almost always listed the colonies in geographical order, roughly from north to south, as follows (the division into three regions is a later construct of historians, though
New England was always considered to be a distinct region):
*
New England:
**
Province of New Hampshire, later
New Hampshire**
Province of Massachusetts Bay, later
Massachusetts and
Maine**
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, later
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations**
Connecticut Colony, later
Connecticut*
Middle Colonies:
**
Province of New York, later
New York and
Vermont**
Province of New Jersey, later
New Jersey**
Province of Pennsylvania, later
Pennsylvania**
Delaware Colony (before 1776, the
Lower Counties on Delaware), later
Delaware*
Chesapeake Colonies:
**
Province of Maryland, later
Maryland**
Colony and Dominion of Virginia, later
Virginia,
Kentucky and
West Virginia*
Southern Colonies:
**
Province of North Carolina, later
North Carolina and
Tennessee **
Province of South Carolina, later
South Carolina**
Province of Georgia, later
GeorgiaReference is sometimes seen to the Chesapeake Colonies, these being the Province of Maryland and the Colony and Dominion of Virginia; so called because they border the
Chesapeake Bay; otherwise, they are considered Southern Colonies.
The Thirteen Colonies were established by one of three possible means.
*
Proprietary colonies: Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. The British Crown gave a charter (document) and land to a private owner (proprietor) who would then govern the colony.
*
Royal colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The British Crown retained sovereignty over the colony and governed it.
*
Charter colonies: Rhode Island and Connecticut. The British Crown granted a charter (document) to a group of settlers, who would then govern the colony.
Britain held several other colonies on mainland North America in 1776 which did not join the thirteen in their Revolution against the Crown.
Future Canadian provinces
*
Nova Scotia (including present day
New Brunswick)
*
Newfoundland* St. John's Island (now called
Prince Edward Island)
*
the Province of Quebec, which included present day
Quebec and
Ontario |
In 1775, the British claimed authority over both the red and pink areas on this map and Spain ruled the orange west of the Mississippi River. The red area is the area of the 13 colonies after the Proclamation of 1763. (Map produced by U.S. Dept. of Interior.) |
Future American states
*
East Florida (forming most of today's
Florida)
*
West Florida (which now forms parts of the states of
Louisiana,
Mississippi,
Alabama, and Florida)
*
History of the United States (1776-1789): Independence and the American Revolution*
British colonization of the Americas*
Colonial government in America*
British North American Colonies to 1783 - Military History & Institutions*
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School: Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents*
13 Originals: Founding the American Colonies, a page that gives a brief history of all the colonies.
