Karen McNicol, age 10, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for her question:

Which was the first of the United States?

The birth certificate of the United States is the Declaration of Independence. This proud document was signed by delegates from thirteen colonies. All thirteen colonies had agreed to declare themselves independent states at the Third Continental Congress before the document was signed. The words and framing of the great document had been debated, discussed and agreed upon. Complete agreement was reached and voted on July 4, 1776.

This great day was the birthday of not one, but thirteen United States. The first colony to instruct its delegates to vote for independence was North Carolina, in April of 1776. Others followed the lead during the spring and summer. No state was officially born until the entire congress agreed upon the form the Declaration should take. Hence, all thirteen colonies became states on the same day. The signatures on the Declaration of Independence were merely records on the birth certificate.