Wikijunior:United States Charters of Freedom/The 13 Colonies

In 1775, the British claimed authority over the red and pink areas on this map and Spain ruled the orange. The red area is the area of the thirteen colonies open to settlement after the Proclamation of 1763

The Thirteen Colonies were part of what was known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the original thirteen United States of America in 1783. These British colonies in North America rebelled against British rule in 1775, in what is called the American Revolution in the United States and the American War of Independence in other countries. A provisional government was formed which proclaimed their independence, which is now celebrated as having occurred on July 4, 1776 (Independence Day), and subsequently became the original thirteen United States of America. The colonies were founded between 1607 (Virginia), and 1733 (Georgia), although Great Britain held several other colonies in North America and the West Indies that did not join the rebellion in 1775.

The original 13 states today

The Thirteen Colonies gave rise to eighteen present-day states: the original thirteen states (in chronological order of their ratification of the United States Constitution: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island), Vermont (which had been disputed between New Hampshire and New York, and was an independent republic from 1777 to 1791), Kentucky (which had been part of Virginia until 1792), Tennessee (which had been part of North Carolina until 1790 and then the federally administrated Southwest Territory until 1796), Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts until 1820), and West Virginia (part of Virginia until 1863).

The flag of the 13 colonies

List of colonies

Contemporaneous documents usually list the thirteen revolutionary colonies of British North America in geographical order, from the north to the south.

New England Colonies

• 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

Southern Colonies

(depending on the subject under discussion, Virginia and Maryland may be grouped as the Chesapeake Colonies)

• Province of Maryland, later Maryland
• Colony and Dominion of Virginia, later Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia
• Province of North Carolina, later North Carolina and Tennessee
• Province of South Carolina, later South Carolina
• Province of Georgia, later Georgia

Source

Basically a junior version of the Wikipedia article.