I think that this needs to be altered, so that when a colony become an independent nation the player's relationship with that new nation is similar to the start of the game (only historical friendships/grievances, religious differences, government type, etc.).
The reason being that the new country has just fought the mother country for its independence (or was liberated by the destruction of the mother country). So, an enemy of my enemy is my friend, and should, therefore, not be hostile to the current or former enemies as default.
