And did 13 colonies issue 13 declarations of independence? Or did they meet in a single congress and approve and issue their declaration from that single body?
After the collapse of British authority in 1775 it became necessary to form new state governments and by the end of 1777 ten new state constitutions had been created.
And well before that they had been meeting in Congress - first the First Continental Congress in 1774 and then the Second Continental Congress that began meeting in May 1775.
NO they each independently endorsed the one that was issued!
Who was it that the King of England made peace with under the Treaty of Paris?
Article 1:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.
And well before that they had been meeting in Congress - first the First Continental Congress in 1774 and then the Second Continental Congress that began meeting in May 1775.
Of course they had and they met as thefree and independent states they were at the time!