13 Colonies - First 13 States

CIVICS FACTS 1. Native Americans lived in America before the Europeans arrived. 2. The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts in 1620. 3. The U.S. flag has 13 stripes because there were 13 original colonies. 4. The 13 original colonies became the first 13 states. Jamestown (Virginia) was the first permanent English colony in the New World. 5. The first governing document of the new colonies was the Mayflower Compact. It was written and signed by the pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620. It followed a majoritarian model of government.

• The 13 colonies were located along the Atlantic Ocean.
• The colonies were founded by Great Britain between 1607-1732.
• People who lived in the colonies are called colonists.
• The colonists came to America for: political freedom, religious freedom, economic opportunity, to escape persecution.
• The first permanent colony was Jamestown (Virginia). It was founded in 1607.
• Here is a list of the original thirteen colonies:
  
     New Hampshire
     Massachusetts
     Rhode  Island
     Connecticut
     New York
     New Jersey
     Pennsylvania
     Delaware
     Maryland
     Virginia
     North Carolina
     South Carolina
     Georgia
  
• In 1775, the colonists rebelled against British rule.
• On July 4, 1776, they declared their independence from Great Britain.
• Why did the colonists fight the British?

1. because of high taxes - taxation without representation

2. because the British army stayed in their houses - boarding, quartering

3. because they didn't have self-government



• The original 13 colonies became our first 13 states.