What were the thirteen colonies? The thirteen colonies were a large group of British colonies on the east coast of North America founded in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that declared independence in 1776 and formed the united states of America. By doing this the colonies had to go through many trials like departing from Great Britain the ones that founded them, mercantilism, slavery and many more trials like all of the battles we had to fight in to get not only our independence but equality to become a better nation as one. The thirteen colonies started out with Southern and some Northern colonies such as Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina , South Carolina and Georgia. Then some of the New England Colonies such as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and also Connecticut.…