Maine and Vermont Were Not Among the Original Thirteen Colonies

Clarifying the Original Thirteen Colonies

Neither Maine nor Vermont was part of the thirteen original colonies that declared independence in 1776. The thirteen colonies were:

1. Connecticut
2. Delaware
3. Georgia
4. Maryland
5. Massachusetts
6. New Hampshire
7. New Jersey
8. New York
9. North Carolina
10. Pennsylvania
11. Rhode Island
12. South Carolina
13. Virginia

Historical Context

• Maine was a district of Massachusetts until it achieved statehood in 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise.
• Vermont was a disputed territory claimed by both New York and New Hampshire. It declared itself an independent republic in 1777 and joined the Union as the 14th state in 1791.

The confusion sometimes arises because both regions were settled by English colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries, but they were not separate colonial governments at the time of the American Revolution.