Some states took their own sweet time hopping on board the Union train, setting up first as independent 'countries,' with varying degrees of autonomy. It took a lot of battles, bloodshed and negotiations to get to this point. wasn't always made up of the 50 states that we know today. The map 'The British Colonies in North America, 1763-1775.' Rattyrattery/Wikipedia/Creative Commons CC0 1.0 This map shows the short-lived Republic of West Florida.