There Were Actually 12 U.S. Colonies (Until 1776)

Thirteen stripes on the U.S. flag mean 13 colonies originally rebelled against British rule in 1775, right? Strangely, this too is also a myth of sorts. While it’s true that the former British colonies did begin the American Revolution in earnest in 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, there were technically only 12 colonies at the time. Although it had its own legislative assembly since 1704, the little stretch of coast known today as Delaware was then a part of the Pennsylvania Colony. Delaware didn’t declare its independence until June 15, 1776 — just in time to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress to vote on the Declaration of Independence less than a month later. Although Delaware was the last colony to fully form in America’s colonial period, it certainly wasted no time ushering in the new era, as the state was the very first to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 7, 1787, technically making it the first U.S. state in the union.