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The Thirteen Colonies & British America. The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America founded between 1607 and 1732. Divided into New England, Middle, and Southern regions, they developed distinct economies based on maritime commerce, family farming, and cash-crop plantation agriculture powered by enslaved labor. These colonies matter because they developed robust traditions of local self-governance, representative assemblies, and vibrant mercantile economies.
While operating under British imperial mercantilism and protective navigation acts, the colonies enjoyed decades of "salutary neglect" from London. However, following the expensive French and Indian War (1754–1763), the British Parliament attempted to impose direct taxes and assert tighter imperial control over the colonies. Widespread resistance to taxes like the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts fostered a shared political identity among the colonies, directly sparking the American Revolutionary War.