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 colonies.
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Betsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 colonies.

The Thirteen Colonies were 13 British colonies in North America, separately chartered and governed, that signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and formally broke with the Kingdom of Great Britain, leading to the American Revolutionary War and the establishment of the United States of America.

Other British North American possessions—the former French colony of Quebec and the colonies of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island—remained loyal to the British Crown and much later were united as Canada. The colonies of East Florida and West Florida also remained loyal during the American Revolution.

Contents

The Thirteen Colonies

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):

Reference 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.

Proprietary, royal, and charter colonies

  • Proprietary Colonies: Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Proprietary means "of or relating to an owner or an ownership".
  • Royal Colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Royal colonies means "of a quality or size suitable for a King or queen".
  • Charter colonies: Rhode Island and Connecticut. Charter means "a written grant by a country's legislative or sovereign power, by which an institution such as a company, college, or a city is created and its rights and privileges defined".

Other British colonies in North America and the Caribbean in 1776

Britain held several other colonies in North America and the Caribbean in 1776 which did not join the 13 in their American Revolution against the Crown.

Future Canadian provinces

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.)
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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

Future independent countries

Future British overseas territories

Other

See also

External links


Colonial America - European Colonization of the Americas - Thirteen Colonies
Connecticut Colony - Delaware Colony - Province of Georgia - Province of Maryland - Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of New Hampshire - Province of New York - Province of New Jersey - Province of North Carolina - Province of Pennsylvania
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations - Province of South Carolina - Colony and Dominion of Virginia
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