Much of colonial life was hard work, even preparing food. But colonists found ways to mix work with play. They also enjoyed sports and games. For most of the 1700s, the colonists were content to be ruled by English laws. Even later arrivals, unless of the upper class, found the New World challenging as most people had to work hard just to survive. At the same time that they were literally creating towns and cities from wilderness, they were contending with periodic attacks from Native American tribes who had been displaced and needed to also be on guard against robbers or even members of their own households (servants or slaves) who could do them harm.