The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. They were founded between the early 17th and early 18th centuries and eventually came together to form the United States of America in 1776, following the American Revolution against Britain.

New England Colonies:

Massachusetts

Founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims at Plymouth and later, in 1630, by the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Known for its religious roots, the colony had strict religious laws.

New Hampshire

Originally part of Massachusetts, it became its own colony in 1679.

Largely made up of fishing communities.

Rhode Island

Founded in 1636 by religious dissenters from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, led by Roger Williams.

Known for its commitment to religious tolerance and separation of church and state.

Connecticut

Founded in 1636 by Thomas Hooker.

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639), often considered the first written constitution, was established here.

Middle Colonies:

New York

Originally settled by the Dutch in 1624 and called New Netherland.

The British captured it in 1664 and renamed it New York.

New Jersey

Originally part of New Netherland, the British took control in 1664.

It was divided into East and West Jersey before becoming a single colony.

Pennsylvania

Founded in 1682 by William Penn, a Quaker, as a refuge for persecuted Quakers.

Philadelphia, its major city, was an important cultural, political, and economic center.

Delaware

Originally settled by the Swedish and Dutch, it was taken by the English in the 1660s.

For a time, it was part of Pennsylvania but became a separate colony in 1704.

Southern Colonies:

Maryland

Founded in 1632 by Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, as a haven for Catholics.

Introduced the Act of Toleration in 1649, granting religious freedom to Christians.

Virginia

The first permanent English settlement in the Americas was established here at Jamestown in 1607.

Tobacco became a significant cash crop, leading to the establishment of plantations and growth of slavery.

North Carolina

Originally part of the Province of Carolina.

Became its own colony in 1729.

South Carolina

Also originally part of the Province of Carolina.

Became a separate colony from North Carolina in 1729.

Georgia

The last of the thirteen colonies, founded in 1732 by James Oglethorpe as a buffer against Spanish Florida.

It was also envisioned as a place for the poor and debtors of England to start anew.

Significance

• These colonies became integral parts of the British Empire in the New World.
• Discontent with British rule and taxation, without representation in the British Parliament, led to growing unrest in these colonies.
• This unrest eventually resulted in the American Revolution and the colonies’ collective declaration of independence in 1776