13OriginalColonies

**The original thirteen colonies were: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.**

Please click here to see when the colonies were founded.

**Facts of the Thirteen Colonies** [|Connecticut:] 5th to become a state 1788; settled by Puritans from Massachusetts; state laws were model for US Constitution; nickname is Constitution State [|Delaware]: 1st state 12-7-1787; Delaware's Blue Hen army (named for their leader's pet fighting Blue Hen rooster) turned away advancing British in initial skirmish with great speed and bravery; the 13-star flag was flown in battle here first [|Georgia]: Last colony settled but was 4th to ratify Constitution and become state; named after King George II [|Maryland]: Named for Queen Henrietta Maria of England; Known for its valiant army; statehood 4-28-1788; part of state became Washington D C [|Massachusetts]: [|Plymouth Rock] home; became a state 2-6-1788; once had a carved wooden codfish on the wall of the State House because codfish were a big state industry [|New Hampshire]: named for Hampshire County in England; became state 6-21-1788; was heavily explored by both French and English [|New Jersey]: Land was given to the Governor of the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel for this colony; it would be the site of over 100 battles and skirmishes before the Revolution ended [|New York]: Named for the Duke of York (brother of King Charles II); statehood 7-26-1788; US Congress met here after Revolution [|North Carolina]: Home of [|Roanoke Island's Lost Colony]; first English child born in America was John White's granddaughter Virginia on 8-18-1587; statehood 11-21-1789 [|Pennsylvania]: means Penn's Woods, named for William Penn; nickname Keystone State because it is the center of the arch of thirteen colonies; 2nd state 12-12-1787; settled by various religious groups who greatly enhanced colonial life with inventions such as the [|Conestoga wagon] [|Rhode Island]: smallest colony and state; not an island, was maybe named for Isle of Rhodes in Aegean Sea; 1st declare independence from England but last of thirteen to become a state because of concerns over being fairly represented in spite of size [|South Carolina]: once part of "Carolana" with NC; nickname Palmetto State because fortress of palms kept British warship away from Charleston harbor in 1776 battle; statehood 5-23-1778 [|Virginia]: home to four of the first five US presidents, and eventually home to four more; site of 1st permanent settlement in [|Jamestown 1607] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica; font-size: medium;">[of page|(back to top of page)]

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