How might a colony treat the arrival of a new generation ship?

Assumptions

1. Space travel is hard.
2. Interstellar travel takes a long time.
3. Chances for a successful trip and colony becoming self-sustaining are not considered super high.

Therefore, each colony will be seeded by 2 or more colony ships.

The Setting

Colony ship 1 successfully completes its voyage and despite extreme hardship and difficulties succeeds in establishing a self-sustaining colony and its infrastructure.

Decades later, colony ship $n$ arrives.

The Conflict

The crew and colonists of the first ship (rightfully) feel that they did the most difficult and risky part of the colonization. They risked extinction and might feel that they deserve more rights or benefits within that colony's society.

When colony ship $n$ arrives, I'm sure the original colonists won't want to share all of the benefits of their labor equally.

The Question

Does this also encourage the development of a caste system (or even outright slavery) of the newcomers?

Bonus points:

1. Would their be any difference in attitude towards colony ship $n$'s crew vs. colonists?

posted almost 9 years ago

Jim2B‭

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