Part 13

Master Civilization VI's Founding Fathers and Trade system! Learn how to generate points, hire historical figures, and boost your empire's production and economy.

Hey there! Welcome to Part 13 of our Civilization VI guide. Today, we're diving into something super important for growing your empire: Founding Fathers and the Trade system. Think of Founding Fathers as historical VIPs who can give your civilization a permanent boost, and Trade is how you get the resources and points needed to bring them on board.

What are Founding Fathers?

Founding Fathers are historical figures who were influential during the game's golden age (roughly 1400-1800). You generate points to attract them by producing Liberty Bells in your cities. You can also dedicate city production specifically to generating these points instead of buildings or units. Different actions give you bonus points in specific categories: military actions for military points, trading for trade points, generating crosses for religious points, and exploration for exploration points. There's no bonus for political points, though.

Once you've accumulated enough points for a Founding Father, you'll get an offer to have them join your colony. You can accept or decline. Heads up: If you reject a Founding Father, you can NEVER get them back. The first colony to reach the required points gets the first shot. If they pass, the next colony in line gets the chance. These guys are super valuable, offering permanent buffs that can make your units stronger or boost your production, so you'll want to snag as many as you can!

Trade Founding Fathers: The Money Makers

Trade Founding Fathers are particularly awesome because they can seriously boost your income and production, even cutting down build times for certain buildings. Let's look at a few:

• Adam Smith: Requires 5610 Trade Points and 3366 Political Points. He makes Textile Mills, Coat Factories, Rum Factories, and Cigar Factories 50% faster. That's a huge production boost for those specific industries!
• Alexander Hamilton: Requires 7573 Trade Points and 4488 Political Points. He gives you +3 Hammers per Town Hall. Since you start with a Town Hall, this is an immediate production bonus from day one.
• Cyrus McCormick: Requires 17671 Trade Points and 10659 Political Points. He grants +1 Food on plots with 2 Food and boosts Sugar Production in all Settlements by 50%. Great for food security and boosting your rum production.
• Eli Whitney: Requires 13464 Trade Points and 7854 Political Points. He gives a massive +50% Cotton Production in all Settlements. If you have access to cotton, this is fantastic for the textile industry and making money.
• Jan De Witt: Requires 4207 Trade Points and 2524 Political Points. He reduces the Tools required for buildings by 50%. While tools aren't always the biggest production cost, saving them is always good, especially if you need them for units like muskets.
• John Jacob Astor: Requires 10098 Trade Points and 5890 Political Points. He provides +50% Fur Production in all Settlements. This is a must-have if you've settled in colder regions where fur is abundant, as it's a valuable resource for making coats.
• John Rolfe: Requires 2244 Trade Points and 1542 Political Points. He gives +25% Tobacco Production.

Remember, these Founding Fathers offer permanent advantages, so strategically choosing which ones to pursue based on your empire's strengths and needs can make a huge difference. Keep generating those points and happy trading!