Contemporary documents usually list the thirteen colonies of British North America in geographical order, from the north to the south.
New England colonies
•
Province of New Hampshire, later New Hampshire, a crown colony
•
Province of Massachusetts Bay, later Massachusetts and Maine, a crown colony
• Colony
of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, later Rhode Island, a crown colony
•
Connecticut Colony, later Connecticut, a crown colony
Middle colonies
•
Province of New York, later New York and Vermont, a crown colony
•
Province of New Jersey, later New Jersey, a crown colony
•
Province of Pennsylvania, later Pennsylvania, a proprietary colony
•
Delaware Colony (before 1776, the Lower Counties on Delaware), later Delaware,
a proprietary colony
Southern colonies
Note: Virginia and Maryland
comprised the Chesapeake Colonies
•
Province of Maryland, later Maryland, a proprietary colony
• Colony
and Dominion of Virginia/Virginia Colony, later Virginia, Kentucky,
and West Virginia, a crown colony
•
Province of North Carolina, later North Carolina and Tennessee,
a crown colony
•
Province of South Carolina, later South Carolina, a crown colony
•
Province of Georgia, later Georgia, northern sections
of Alabama and Mississippi, a crown colony
Other divisions prior to 1730
Dominion of New England
Created in 1685 by a decree
from King James II that consolidated Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay
Colony, Plymouth Colony, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Province of New York, East
Jersey, and West Jersey into a single larger colony. The experiment collapsed
after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, and the nine former colonies
re-established their separate identities in 1689.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Settled in 1630 by Puritans
from England. The colonial charter was revoked in 1684, and a new charter
establishing an enlarged Province of Massachusetts Bay was issued in 1691.
Province of Maine
Settled in 1622 (An earlier
attempt to settle the Popham Colony in Sagadahoc, Maine (near present-day
Phippsburg and Popham Beach State Park) in 1607 was abandoned after only one
year). The Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed the Maine territory (then limited
to present-day southernmost Maine) in the 1650s. Parts of Maine east of the
Kennebec River were also part of New York in the second half of the 17th
century. These areas were formally made part of the Province of Massachusetts
Bay in the charter of 1691.
Plymouth Colony
Settled in 1620 by the
Pilgrims. Plymouth was merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the
charter of 1691.
Saybrook Colony
Founded in 1635 and merged
with Connecticut Colony in 1644.
New Haven Colony
Settled in late 1637. New
Haven was absorbed by Connecticut Colony with the issuance of the Connecticut
Charter in 1662, partly as royal punishment by King Charles II for harboring
the regicide judges who sentenced King Charles I to death.
East Jersey and West Jersey
Settled as part of New Netherland
in the 1610s, New Jersey was captured (along with New York) by English forces
in 1664. New Jersey was divided into two separate colonies in 1674, which were
reunited in 1702.
Province of Carolina
Founded in 1663. Carolina
colony was divided into two colonies, North Carolina and South Carolina, in
1712. Both colonies became royal colonies in 1729.
