The Death Of The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The colonists were being heavily taxed, and treated very unfairly. With acts such as the

Many colonists were angered because of high taxes England chose to enforce on them. These taxes were a result of the British participation and victory in the French and Indian war. However, what made the colonists even more angry was the fact that they were being taxed without representation in England’s Parliament. The colonists thought that, in order to be taxed by the British, they should have representation in it. They saw it as unfair to be taxed by a government they had no say in. As Patrick Henry said in his speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses, “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). Since many colonists thought this taxation broke the law, some of them chose to protest by going to the House of Burgesses, boycotting imports, or simply not paying it in response. This response is justified; if

When the Founding Fathers resisted these taxes on principle that Parliament did not have the authority to tax the colonists, Britain attacked and minimized colonial self-rule , declared colonists subject to any act of Parliament , reestablished internal taxes , closed colonial ports, dissolved

By suddenly ending “salutary neglect”, the British Parliament had, unknowing, prompted the beginnings of the Americans' grievances. Though not much protest occurred in response to the Proclamation (most colonists moved West anyways), the Act itself would set a precedent for Americans' sense of anxiety. The first direct tax on the American colonies, the Stamp act, contributed significantly to the beginnings of pre-Revolutionary unity. With the rallying battle cry, “No taxation without representation”, the American colonists proceeded to call together the Stamp Act Congress. Not only was this event significant due to the fact that it was another group meeting, automatically signifying at least some unity, but major proponents of Revolution, such as Samuel Adams, started new efforts towards uniting colonists against Britain, such as the Sons of Liberty. The following several years, though not marked with tremendous amounts of unification, definitely contributed to a growing sense of anxiety and oppression amongst the American colonists. With more direct taxes such as the Tea Acts, Coercive Acts, and Quartering Acts. Grievance after grievance, the number of “unreasonable” British actions inevitably forced the Americans into a dilemma. While some colonists, such as Richmond Henry Lee, equated such acts to the British desire to “ruin” the colonies, others, such as Mather Byles, believed that a radical

Huge debts were owed to Great Britain for supplying the colonists with military support and supplies. To pay the dues, there was the establishment of the Stamp Act, the taxation on domestic goods and services. A tax on domestic merchandise brought even more anger to the colonists. The Sugar Act, the Townshed Duties and the Tea Act were also all introduced with the same fundamentals: applying tax on goods whether it be directly or indirectly, domestic or international. “British commercial regulations imposed a paltry economic burden on Americans, who enjoyed a rapid economic growth and a standard of living higher than their European counterparts” (McGaughy). Each act resulted in irritated colonists. Some even retaliated by tarring and feathering certain English tax enforcers living in the colonies.

The taxes were a huge part of the Revolutionary war and they caused one of the key rebellions in the British Colonies that sparked major conflict. This rebellion is known as the Boston Tea Party. In the Boston Tea Party, a group of Patriots who called themselves the Sons of Liberty dressed themselves as Native Americans and went to the Boston Harbor. Once there they went aboard ships that were carrying tea and they threw 92,000 pounds(340 chests) of tean into the harbor. This act changed the world as the colonists knew it. It sparked the Coercive acts, known as the intolerable acts in America to be

Since American literature’s emergence, the American dream has become a conceptual ideal for many people throughout history. Although the dream has its own distinct aspects throughout different time periods, it predominantly focuses on the foundations of wealth, success and a desire for something greater. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, is primarily known for the numerous lavish parties he throws each weekend at his ostentatious mansion in West Egg in an attempt to reunite with Daisy Buchanan, a woman he falls in love with prior to entering the war before the Roaring Twenties. However, he is seized with an impotent realization on the fact that his wealth cannot afford him the same privileges as others that are born into the upper echelon. Gatsby is completely blinded from his opulent possessions until he becomes oblivious of the fact that money cannot buy love or happiness. Throughout the story, the predilection for materialistic features causes many characters to lose sight of their aspirations, demonstrating how a dream can become easily corrupt by one’s focus on acquiring wealth and power.

When colonists were required to actually start paying their taxes to Britain, they became outraged causing Parliament to repeal the Sugar Act. Additionally, the Stamp Act was the first direct tax on the colonists. By requiring a tax to be paid on nearly every colonial document, colonists could not bear the oppressive Stamp Act. This act was also het with heavy opposition and it would set the volatile scene for Britain’s next laws and acts that would ignite “The Boston Massacre.” The most prominent taxes that were placed on the colonists right before “The Boston Massacre” were the Townshend Duties. This law taxed paper, lead, paint glass and tea. Colonists were furious with Britain’s various taxes, provoking boycotts and high tensions. (Arrison) With opposition increasing in the colonies, the British Parliament felt it was necessary to place British soldiers on watch in the colonies under the Quartering Act. However, the soldiers’ presence was not the only annoyance the colonists would have to suffer. The colonists were responsible for providing for the soldiers’ necessities. This included providing shelter that in most cases was shared between the colonists and the soldiers. Most notably, the soldiers were often unruly, drunk, and pugnacious and treated as low-paid civilian servants. (Gilje) Personally, if I was a colonist forced to surrender my own space for disrespectful

Most were outraged and spoke out against the injustice such as in the speech by Patrick Henry when he states, “We can under law be taxed only by our representatives. We have no representatives in the British Parliament...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it...King George is a tyrant” (Document 1). Speeches like this inspired the patriots to rise up and take action against the law. Many smuggled goods such as newspapers and letters while others made propaganda against the British. Colonists began protesting publicly and called much attention to the problem facing the colonies which the British did not like at all. The colonists showed so much revolt against the tax that the British Parliament repealed it only a year after it was passed. That battle had been won by the colonists but the war was yet to

” These ridiculous taxes were the final straw for the colonists. All of these were main reasons for the change of relationship between The British Government and the

Unjustified taxes and laws forced onto the colonists consequently started the beginning of the revolution. The colonists, who were understanding civilians, accepted most of the taxes that they had to pay until a new act was passed. The king ran the stamp act which unreasonably raised revenue and to one civilian John Dickinson “the raising of revenue was never intended...never did the British parliament, [until the passage of the stamp act] think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising a revenue.” (Document 2) This is just one comment from one civilian about his disagreement on the stamp act while others took action and revolted against the Kings new act.

Rage from taxes leads many citizens to act out on tax workers with public humiliation. According to Document 5, most of the chaos came from the colonists from protesting and bring violence to the streets. Many protesters released their anger on tax workers by tarring and feathering them and destroy and burning British property. With this type of behavior, the king had his duty to enforce rules. Also in Document 3, it shows the little effects that tax has on these colonies. Most of the taxed good was useless because no one buys them anymore and the small tax acts should not have lead to immense protest by these colonists. Another example where the Americans were not justified was their resistance to their benefits. The colonists say that the taxes were unconstitutional because it was for revenue but the taxes were to pay off the debt of the French Indian War, a war that was for the colonist's defense. Britain had some right to tax them for their contribution to the protection. But even though it was for the colonist's protection, they did not ask for it. Therefore they didn't have to pay for a non-request

Even though their victory was group effort, the British argued that there was a lack of colonial participation and support in the duration of the war. This angered the people of the colonies, but their anger intensified with the passing of the Sugar Act and Stamp Act. These acts decreased the duty on French molasses, which regulated trade and raised revenue but also raised penalties for smuggling, and put a tax on all paper used for official documents, which also raised revenue. The reality of these taxes was to get the colonist to help pay off the war debt, which was only fair for they didn’t have nearly as many expenses as the people in Britain did, but they still revolted against them. One result of the taxes was an organized resistance of ordinary middle class people, such as printers, tradesmen, and sailors, called the “Sons of Liberty.” Their purpose was to frighten royal officials and rebel against the British in hopes for change in the new taxes. A Philadelphia lawyer named John Dickinson even said “We are taxed without our consent... We are therefore - SLAVES.” The controversy occurring due to these taxes in the colonies eventually led to the repeal of the Stamp

“The Revenue Act of 1764 did not bring in enough money to help pay the cost of defending the colonies. The British looked for additional sources of taxation. Prime Minister Grenville supported the imposition of a stamp tax. Colonial representatives tried to convince Grenville that the tax was a bad idea. Grenville insisted in having the new taxes imposed and presented to the parliament. The parliament approved the tax in February 1765. The colonies responded with outrage. It was considered a “shocking act”.(2)

Furthermore, Great Britain had commanded new payment methods which created a ruckus with the Americans causeing great anger. Rebellion and discontent were rampant. The colonies started rebelling against ‘Mother England’ because of taxes issued to the colonies, in as much, England’s power did not allow them to have representation. The Revenue Act of 1764 made the Constitutional issue of whether or not the king had the right to tax the people who are living in his kingdom or the thirteen colonies. Eventually, this "became an entering wedge in the great dispute that was finally to wrest the American colonies from England" (Carey 48). "It was the phrase "taxation without representation" (Montgomery 138) that was to draw many to the cause of the American patriots against the mother country. That has royal authority to be able to term public opinions into a revolutionary battle.