America in WWI

Why Didn’t America Join sooner? WWI began in 1914 but America didn’t join until 1917,why? Many Americans did not want to go to war for various reasons They didn’t support one of the allied forces They were pacifists or isolationists

What Led to American Involvement? Wilson won the election of 1916 his slogan being “He kept us out of war” If American was so opposed to war, why did we finally join?

The Lusitania German U-boats were trying to prevent any aid to Britain They blew up several ships on their way to England The Lusitania was one such ship It was a British liner but out of the roughly 1,200 people who died when it sank, 124 of them were American

Enough to go to war? Although Americans were outraged by the sinking of the Lusitania and other ships, it was not enough to force America into war Germany also promised to stop unrestricted submarine warfare So what was the final straw? A coded telegram

The Zimmerman Telegram Could this be British propaganda? What was to be gained by the allies? What was in it for the Germans Who decoded the message? Why was this possibly suspicious? What words or phrases might have caused Americans to become increasingly hostile toward Germans?

What do you think about the Telegram? Wilson called for a declaration of war and congress overwhelmingly voted yes Who were some of the first to volunteer?