The Thirteen Colonies

A colonial Atlantic settlement takes shape along the coast, one of the thirteen separate colonies that would eventually unite against Britain.

Britain didn't have thirteen colonies in the Americas — it had dozens; Nova Scotia, Quebec, East and West Florida and its Caribbean islands all stayed under the Crown. Only thirteen decided rebellion was worth the risk.^[1]

About the Place

Why it matters

The Thirteen Colonies were the British settlements along the Atlantic coast of North America, founded between the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and the founding of Georgia in 1732.^[2]^[1]

Colonial governments took different legal forms: Georgia, for instance, began under a proprietary charter granted to trustees organized by James Oglethorpe, which the trustees surrendered in 1752 for direct provincial government.^{[3, p. 46]}

Enslaved laborers work a Chesapeake tobacco plantation and roll barrels down to the dock - the cash-crop economy that built the southern colonies.

Rising tensions over taxation, including the Stamp Act of 1765, led to armed conflict and, on 4 July 1776, a formal Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, following Congress's resolution of independence adopted two days earlier.^{[4, p. 9]}^{[5, p. 183]}

After winning the Revolutionary War, the Thirteen Colonies reorganized as the founding states of the United States, first under the Articles of Confederation and later under the Constitution, ratified by the states in 1788.^[6]

Legacy & Reputation

What’s the verdict?

Legacy & Reputation

What's the verdict?

The Thirteen Colonies are often remembered as a single, unified project bound together by liberty, but the reality was messier: a substantial loyalist minority never accepted independence at all.^{[4, p. 9]}

Myth-buster

Think you know this one?

Myth-buster

Think you know this one?

Myth: American independence was declared on July 4, 1776. In fact, Congress voted for independence on the second of July — the declaration’s text was only agreed unanimously on the fourth — and John Adams wrote to his wife the following day marvelling at what had just been decided.^{[5, p. 183]}

Quick Facts

The essentials

Quick Facts

Location: Part of Kingdom of Great Britain (colonial possessions) — today, The Atlantic seaboard states of the United States: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia Period: Early Modern World Classification: Settlement Also known as: British America; the American colonies

Keith would like to begin with a correction…

Britain had considerably more than thirteen colonies in the Americas. Nova Scotia, Quebec, East and West Florida and its Caribbean islands all stayed under the Crown. Thirteen rebelled; the others watched.^[1]

Roger has been counting snakes…

Franklin's plan for uniting the colonies didn't start with the Revolution. On his way to the Albany Congress in 1754, he drew up a plan for a union of all the colonies under one government for defence and other general purposes — and it went nowhere.^[7]

The familiar story leaves this out…

The thirteen colonies' population in 1776 was about 2.56 million — including roughly 450,000 enslaved people, close to one-fifth of the total.^[8]

Georgia tried something different…

Georgia's colonial trustees had at first opposed introducing slavery into the colony, but sustained pressure from settlers won out: the opposition was overcome, and by the early 1750s slavery was firmly and legally established there.^{[9, p. 30]}

Keith found the footnote…

Delaware's early identity was bound up with Pennsylvania: it was long known as the ‘Three Lower Counties on the Delaware’, sharing its governor with its larger neighbour.^{[5, p. 183]}

The date is wrong, but the party is right…

Congress actually voted for independence on the second of July 1776; the fourth is when the declaration's wording was agreed. John Adams wrote to his wife the very next day, awestruck at ‘the greatest question... that was ever debated in America’.^{[5, p. 183]}

Roger has a theory…

Franklin proposed a colonial union in 1754, on his way to the Albany Congress — two decades before the Revolution. He showed the plan to two New York gentlemen before presenting it further.^[7]

Not everyone agreed…

Loyalism was not a fringe position: loyalist sentiment is discussed at length in contemporary and later accounts of the Revolution.^[10]

New York was not always New York…

New York began as the Dutch colony of New Netherland, settled in 1609; it fell into English hands on 27 August 1664 and was renamed New York.^[9]

A small fact with a very large consequence…

By the 1770s the colonies were not simply English. Pennsylvania in particular had large German-speaking communities living alongside its English-speaking neighbours.^[11]

That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown.^[12]

The Second Continental Congress

From the final paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, adopted 4 July 1776, two days after Congress's resolution of independence.^{[5, p. 183]}

Timeline

How it unfolded

May 1607

Founding of Jamestown, Virginia

English colonists founded Jamestown in Virginia in May 1607, the first permanent English settlement on American soil.^[2] The National Park Service likewise says England established its first permanent colony there in 1607 through the Virginia Company.^[13]

11 November 1620

Mayflower Compact at Cape Cod

On 11 November 1620 by the old-style calendar, the New England colonists aboard the Mayflower drew up the Mayflower Compact off Cape Cod.^{[14, p. 61]} It formed the basis of government for Plymouth colony until a patent was granted in 1630.^{[15, p. 399]}

9 June 1732

Charter of Georgia, the thirteenth colony

A royal charter dated 9 June 1732 created the Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia, the thirteenth colony planted in North America by the English government, and the trust was to last twenty-one years.^{[9, p. 30]}

22 March 1765

Stamp Act sparks colonial unity

The Stamp Act received the royal assent on 22 March 1765 and was due to take effect on 1 November.^[16] That October a colonial congress met in New York^[17] and it was attended by delegates from nine colonies.^{[14, p. 61]}

4 July 1776

The colonies declare independence

On 4 July 1776 the Continental Congress at Philadelphia issued the Declaration of Independence, affirming that the thirteen colonies are and ought to be free and independent states.^{[18, p. 273]}

3 September 1783

Treaty of Paris ends the war

The definitive articles of peace ending the war for independence were signed at Paris on 3 September 1783, after provisional articles had been signed on 30 November 1782.^[19]

7 December 1787

Delaware first to ratify the Constitution

Delaware was the first state to ratify the new Constitution, on 7 December 1787, followed by Pennsylvania and New Jersey within the month.^{[20, p. 116]}

29 May 1790

Rhode Island ratifies, completing the thirteen

Rhode Island, the last of the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution on 29 May 1790, after the new government had already begun operating.^{[21, p. 181]}

Dig Deeper

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Explain why Nova Scotia Quebec and Britain's Caribbean colonies did not join the thirteen colonies in rebelling against Britain in 1776

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Pitch me Benjamin Franklin's Join or Die snake cartoon like it's a recruitment ad for the wrong war since it was originally about fighting the French