There's a lot of paperwork when you have a revolution. No nation is born without spilling a lot of blood and ink (there's probably some saying in French to that effect). So first you declare independence -- in writing -- then you have to write up a constitution followed by, I dunno, articles of federation and bills of rights and federalist papers and all sorts of stuff like that. And everyone's signing his name all over the place. Founding Fathers love to write stuff and sign their names.

Fortunately, it's pretty streamlined in Colonization, which seems to understand that you're already busy moving tool, guns, wagon trains, lumber, and troops all over the place. So doing up your constitution is like one of those quizzes you used to take to determine your character's stats before playing an Ultima game. Here you're presented with five either/or questions. Your answers determine the bonuses you get for your new country. It's a bit like civics in Civilization IV or the social engineering in Alpha Centauri, but you only get to do it once.

Read the rules for the United States of El Chick after the jump.

In the United States of El Chick, here's the deal:

Monachy: We can still buy and sell stuff in Europe
Don't figure you get to vote, because you don't. I've been watching this year's Presidential election and we're not having any of that nonsense in my country, so I'm just going to go ahead and be king .

All Men Are Free: Every settlement gets two free colonists
We aren't going to have slavery. That's just bad PR and it causes a headache for everyone involved. Plus, I don't need the production bonus from slavery. Instead, I need the extra population to press into service more troops.

Controlled Arms: 50% bonus to liberty bell production
In my new country, you don't get to run around willy nilly with muskets, doing drive-by shootings in carriages. Furthermore, my country isn't going to spend 200 years trying to figure out what "well-regulated militia" means. But mainly, I can use the extra liberty bells, since my national trait gives me a defensive bonus for liberty bells.

Separation of Church and State: All crosses are converted to liberty bells
We're not doing any sort of state religion business, and we're not going to teach creationism or intelligent design in schools. We might, however, put "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance in a few hundred years.

Manifest Destiny: +50% combat vs. the natives
I call dibbs on the whole continent. That's right, the whole thing. Mine!

Okay, bring on the Spanish troops. Let's shed some blood! Oh, wait, it's the weekend? Okay, we're suspending our campaign until Monday. Come back then and watch me pwn Spain.

(Click here for the previous Colonization game diary.)