How [Not] to Run a Colony in the Distant Past and the Future

Colonialism always rests on a false premise: we will bring our superior culture to a new region. The beings who inhabit the territory may be useful to us, but they certainly can be pushed out of the way. Such was the case in England’s first attempts in North America 400 years ago, and now fictional accounts of colonization in outer space see humans repeating their mistakes. This chapter uses pamphlets, letters, and official documents written in the beginning decades of English colonization in North America. It also draws on two modern science fiction accounts, one from the mid-twentieth century, Harry Martinson’s Aniara, and the other recently published, Charlie Jane Anders’ The City in the Middle of the Night.