Bob Strickland, age 11, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada for his question:

Which was the first of the United States?

In July 1776, 13 British colonies declared themselves to be the United States of America. Then they fought the tsar of Independence which made a new nation. In 1781, as war ended, their new government ratified the mem¬bership of all the 13 states. We cannot say that this one or that one was first because the original 13 became the United States at the same time.

Colonial days began with early settlements in the 1580s. As they took roots, thirteen colonies grew along the eastern seaboard. In 1619, the people of Virginia formed the first representative government in North America. And more than a century later, Virginia was one of the 13 original colonies that became the 13 original states united to form the new nation. The five northern states were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Hew York. The middle states were New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. The southern states were Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.