13 Original States Map

The 13 original states named on today's borders; press Quiz me, or print the map blank.

13 Original States Map

Name Date

Tap any state to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
More options

Write the name of each numbered state, then its ratification order.Answer key

  1. Georgia · 4th
  2. Virginia · 10th
  3. North Carolina · 12th
  4. South Carolina · 8th
  5. Maryland · 7th
  6. New York · 11th
  7. Pennsylvania · 2nd
  8. New Jersey · 3rd
  9. Delaware · 1st
  10. Massachusetts · 6th
  11. New Hampshire · 9th
  12. Connecticut · 5th
  13. Rhode Island · 13th

Drawn for this site from U.S. Census Bureau 2023. Licence: public domain.

Each state is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a state is answered.

Next step Know the states? Now name each capital

All 13 states on the diagram

Show the list

Southern colonies 5

  1. Georgia (ratification order: 4th) Ratified January 2, 1788, the first Southern state to do so.
  2. Virginia (ratification order: 10th) Ratified June 25, 1788. Kentucky and West Virginia were once its land.
  3. North Carolina (ratification order: 12th) Ratified November 21, 1789, after Congress proposed a bill of rights.
  4. South Carolina (ratification order: 8th) Ratified May 23, 1788. One more state was needed to reach nine.
  5. Maryland (ratification order: 7th) Ratified April 28, 1788, by 63 votes to 11.

Middle colonies 4

  1. New York (ratification order: 11th) Ratified July 26, 1788, by only three votes, 30 to 27.
  2. Pennsylvania (ratification order: 2nd) Ratified December 12, 1787, five days after Delaware.
  3. New Jersey (ratification order: 3rd) Ratified December 18, 1787, the third state in under two weeks.
  4. Delaware (ratification order: 1st) Ratified December 7, 1787, the first state, by 30 votes to 0.

New England colonies 4

  1. Massachusetts (ratification order: 6th) Ratified February 6, 1788. Maine was part of it until 1820.
  2. New Hampshire (ratification order: 9th) Ratified June 21, 1788, the ninth state the Constitution needed.
  3. Connecticut (ratification order: 5th) Ratified January 9, 1788, the first New England state to do so.
  4. Rhode Island (ratification order: 13th) Ratified May 29, 1790, the last of the 13, by two votes.

How this list was compiled: Order and dates of ratification, and the admission dates and origins of Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maine and West Virginia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union, checked 2026-09-20. The 13 dates and the convention votes quoted for Delaware, Maryland and New York checked again against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_drafting_and_ratification_of_the_United_States_Constitution, checked 2026-09-20. U.S. National Archives: Delaware first on December 7, 1787 by 30 to 0, New Hampshire ninth, North Carolina after a bill of rights was proposed in Congress in 1789, Rhode Island on May 29, 1790 by two votes, https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/ratification.html, checked 2026-09-20; Pennsylvania December 12, Massachusetts February 6 and Maryland April 28 by 63 to 11, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/more-perfect-union, checked 2026-09-20. New England, Middle and Southern groups, and Maine as part of Massachusetts until 1820: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies, checked 2026-09-20. North Carolina's cession, accepted by Congress on April 2, 1790: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Territory, checked 2026-09-20. New York's and New Hampshire's claims to Vermont: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Republic, checked 2026-09-20. Hints and detail lines written for this site. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_state_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_state_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Albers equal-area conic projection, central meridian 81.1°W, standard parallels 28.5°N and 44.2°N. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf; public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)

How it works

This 13 original states map shows the states that ratified the Constitution between 1787 and 1790, drawn on today's borders. The quiz names one state at a time for you to tap, and the map prints blank with a numbered answer key.

Read the full guide

The 13 states in their three groups

New England: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Middle: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Southern: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia are quiet shapes that are never asked. Each was made later from land one of the 13 held or claimed.

How a round works

The first round asks the 9 Southern and Middle states, and the second asks the 4 in New England. A wrong tap shows you the right state. At the end, Name them instead lights each state, asks its name, then asks where it came in the order of ratifying.

  • Delaware ratified first and Rhode Island last, and they are the two smallest of the 13.
  • Pennsylvania is the only one of the 13 with no ocean coast. Find it by the straight bottom edge it shares with Maryland.
  • Nine states were needed. New Hampshire was the ninth, on June 21, 1788, four days ahead of Virginia.

Questions and answers

What are the 13 original states in order?

In the order they ratified the Constitution: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island. Delaware ratified on December 7, 1787, and Rhode Island on May 29, 1790.

Why is Maine not one of the 13 original states?

Maine was part of Massachusetts until it became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820. Vermont joined in 1791 as the 14th state, on land New York and New Hampshire had both claimed. Both are on this map as quiet shapes.

Does this map show the borders of the 13 colonies?

No. It shows the same 13 places as states, on today's borders. In 1787 Virginia still held Kentucky and what is now West Virginia, and North Carolina reached west across Tennessee. The public-domain boundary files this site draws from do not hold those older lines.

Can I print a blank map of the 13 original states?

Yes. Print blank, under More options or at the end of a round, numbers the 13 states and leaves a line for each name and its place in the order. Print labelled is the answer key.

More quizzes

Show 8 more

Browse Geography Quizzes