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It has been suggested that Colonial America be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2006.

The Thirteen Colonies were thirteen British colonies in North America, separately chartered and governed, that rebelled against the crown and signed a Declaration of Independence in 1776 to become independent sovereign states, thereby establishing the seed for the United States of America.

13 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):

• 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
  • 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
• Cheasapeake Colonies (considered Southern Colonies in most texts):
  • 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 Georgia

Other colonies

At various times in the seventeenth and eighteenth century other English (or British) colonies existed that eventually became part of the above 13 colonies. In addition Britain held several other colonies on mainland North America in 1776 which did not join the thirteen in their Revolution against the Crown. Finally, Britain held several American colonies in the West Indies (such as Jamaica, St. Kitts, Montserrat, Nevis) that did not seek their independence in 1776.

Former English colonies merged or divided into one or more of the 13 British colonies

• Dominion of New England - Created by King James II with the consolidation of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey into a single "super-colony" in 1685. The experiment was discontined with the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89, and the nine former colonies re-established their separate identies in 1689.
• Maine - Settled in 1622. (An earlier attempt to settle the Popham Colony on Sagadahoc Island, Maine in 1607 was abandoned after only one year.) Massachusetts Bay colony encroached into Maine during the English Civil War, but, with the Restoration, autonomy was returned to Maine in 1664. Maine was officially merged into Massachusetts Bay Colony with the issuance of the Massachusetts Bay charter of 1691.
• Plymouth - Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims. Plymouth was absorbed by Massachusetts Bay Colony with the issuance of the Massachusetts Bay charter of 1691.
• New Haven - Settled in 1637. New Haven was absorbed by Connecticut Colony with the issuance of the Connecticut Charter in 1662.
• East Jersey - New Jersey was divided into two separate colonies in 1674. The Jerseys were reunited in 1702.
• West Jersey - New Jersey was divided into two separate colonies in 1674. The Jerseys were reunited in 1702.
• Carolina - Founded in 1663. Carolina colony was divided into North Carolina and South Carolina in 1712. (Both colonies became royal colonies in 1729.)

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

Future American states

• East Florida (forming most of what is now the state of Florida, including all of that state but the panhandle)
• West Florida (which forms what is now the panhandles of the states of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and the portion of the state of Louisiana that is east of the Mississippi River except for the port of New Orleans)

See also

• History of the United States (1776-1789): Independence and the American Revolution
• British colonization of the Americas
• Colonial America
• Colonial government in America

External links

• 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.

• Articles to be merged from October 2006
• Former British colonies
• Thirteen Colonies