The United States began with thirteen states along the Atlantic coast. Each had been a British colony before the Revolution.
Key idea
The thirteen original states were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Delaware was the first to approve the Constitution, on December 7, 1787; Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen, in 1790.
Why it works
Why are they all on the Atlantic? European colonists arrived by ship across the Atlantic, so the first settlements were on the coast and along rivers that ships could sail up. Towns, farms and colonies spread inland from there. The order of joining is the order in which each state's convention approved the Constitution.
| Order | State | Approved the Constitution |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware | 1787 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | 1787 |
| 3 | New Jersey | 1787 |
| 4 | Georgia | 1788 |
| 5 | Connecticut | 1788 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | 1788 |
| 7 | Maryland | 1788 |
| 8 | South Carolina | 1788 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 1788 |
| 10 | Virginia | 1788 |
| 11 | New York | 1788 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 1789 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 1790 |
Worked example: One of the thirteen?
Was Vermont one of the thirteen original states?
- Vermont is in New England, near the thirteen.
- But it was not one of the colonies; it joined later.
- It became the 14th state in 1791.
Answer: No. Vermont joined in 1791.
Common mistake
People include Vermont or Maine because they are in New England. Neither was one of the thirteen: Vermont became the 14th state in 1791, and Maine was part of Massachusetts until it became a state in 1820. West Virginia split from Virginia in 1863.