In Colonization, Founding Fathers are historical figures who offer to join your colonies as you accumulate points in various categories: Military, Trade, Exploration, Religion, and Politics. For example, players receive Exploration points if they meet Native tribes, gaining extra points if they are the first European colony to do so. Similarly, building churches and cathedrals yields Religious points.
To view a complete breakdown of the points system,
read this thread on the forums. When playing Colonization, you can access the Founding Fathers screen by pressing the keyboard shortcut
F6, allowing you to see your current progress towards developing points. On this page, you can see a list of all available Founding Fathers, as well as their respective bonuses.
