Life is littered with a variety of obstacles that pose a challenge to daily living. Thomas Paine once said, “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” The quote can be understood as follows: The bigger the obstacle you overcome, the more satisfied and accomplished you will feel after overcoming it, due to the strength and effort needed to overcome the obstacle. I believe Paine's argument is true, seeing it demonstrated in literature such as “The General History of Virginia,” in history, during the Revolutionary War, and in my experience taking my first AP test. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first British settlers who landed in the United States faced a variety of unimaginable hardships. Settlers like John Smith were among the first Europeans to explore that largely uninhabited land, but they were unprepared for the difficulties that awaited them. John Smith and his group of settlers were unaware of how long the journey across the pond would take, and this presented them with several challenges, “we were at sea for five months during which we both spent our provisions and lost our 'opportunity of time and season per plant." (Smith, PG 14) Missing the planting season would have presented a multitude of challenges for the settlers, the most prominent of which was lack of food. The settlers would have had to rely on the problem solving and on unity to be able to survive food shortages. The colonists intelligently turned to the natives for help (obviously after a small conflict) forming a bond with the natives. The natives lived off the land and had abundance of food and grain, and they were not reluctant to share, “Pocahontas and her attendants brought them so many supplies that they saved many of their lives.” (Smith, PG 17) The colonists made alliances necessary to aid their survival during a season without harvest. In this way the colonists managed to survive the unthinkable, overcoming adversity. The magnitude of the challenge they faced makes the victory even more enjoyable. Being able to return from having been close to losing everything to a position of strength and stability makes the colonists' triumph that much more satisfying. The British crown oppressed the American colonists, imposing administrative power on them in taxation and colonial supervision. Patrick Henry, spoke before the Virginia Convention in an effort to rally support to repel the English. Henry mentions the hardships the colonists endured in his speech: “we petitioned; we protested; we begged; we prostrated ourselves before the throne; and they implored his interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament.” (Henry, pg. 37) The English imposed taxes and royal decrees on colonists from across the Atlantic for the benefit of the crown and citizens of the British continent, this upset the colonists because they were governed by leaders who did not even inhabit the continent American. This united the colonists against a common enemy, but there was a huge obstacle ahead of them, they were simply outnumbered. The colonists were extremely united, most were bound by a common cause, which ensured their independence from the tyrannical rule of the British crown that had ruled them for so long. Henry echoed the beliefs of many Americans of the time, saying in his famous speech before the Virginia Convention, "give me liberty or give me.