US History

The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)

Law and Government

This collection uses primary sources to explore the decisions and events that led to American involvement in World War I.

An excerpt from a statement of neutrality by President Wilson at the outbreak of war in Europe, August 19, 1914.

An excerpt from an argument about Germany’s role in World War I printed in *The New York Times*, January 26, 1915.

An excerpt from an American woman’s 1915 book arguing for the German cause in the war.

A 1918 American war bond poster recalling the atrocities committed in Belgium by the Germans.

An American poster praising the special relationship between the United States and Belgium.

An American poster encouraging assistance to war-torn France.

An American poster discouraging food waste to assist the European Allies.

An excerpt from the 1915 German text *Lusitania* that features an advertisement for the voyage with a warning added by the German Embassy.

A 1917 enlistment poster asking men to remember the *Lusitania*.

A poster alerting Americans to the possibility of German “traps” and “trouble makers.”

A propaganda poster, “Defeat the Kaiser and his U-boats.”

A propaganda poster with a poem encouraging American action against German U-boats.

A 1918 propaganda poster portraying all the obstacles to peace.

A photograph of President Wilson’s speech before Congress on February 3, 1917 including a detailed caption explaining the speech.

An excerpt from President Wilson’s speeches including a speech to Congress on April 2, 1917 and Congress’s subsequent declaration of war.

Questions

1. What were the reasons for neutrality in [President Wilson’s statement of neutrality](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1083)? 
2. What are the pro-German arguments laid out in the [excerpt from the *Times*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1084) and the [excerpt from Bartlett’s book](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1085)? How does this reflect the divided loyalties in the United States at the outbreak of World War I in Europe?
3. With outside information on Germany’s invasion of Belgium and the reported atrocities there, use the two posters that make reference to Belgium to describe the US’s relationship with Belgium.
4. How do the [poster about France](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1088) and the [poster about food waste](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1089) show attitudes in the United States shifting away from neutrality?
5. How does the warning in the [*Lusitania* text](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1090) and the [1917 enlistment poster](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1091) display the drama and tragedy of the sinking of the *Lusitania*?
6. The [poster about German “traps,”](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1092) the [poster about defeating the Kaiser](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1093), and the [poster about defeating U-Boats](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1093) all demonstrate increasing tensions between the US and the German Empire. Create a list of events and tactics that pushed the US closer to war. 
7. Use the [photograph of President Wilson’s speech](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1096) and the [text of President Wilson’s speech](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-i-america-heads-to-war/sources/1096) to explain the diplomatic steps that brought the US to declare war. What reasons did Woodrow Wilson outline?

Activity

Using the propaganda posters from the set as a start, ask students to investigate propaganda in World War I on both Allied and Axis sides. Students will find additional propaganda pieces on the Digital Public Library of America site. Ask them to sort the pieces using categories created by the class (different purposes, emotions, kinds of imagery, e.g.). Identify and discuss positive and negative strategies for conveying these messages. Students can use their findings to create their own propaganda poster and present it to the class. This could be done in groups or individually. 

Teaching Guide: Exploring America’s Entry into World War I

Resources

1. [*Patriotic Labor: America during World War I*](http://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/america-world-war-i) online exhibit, Digital Public Library of America. 
2. [National WWI Museum and Memorial online exhibitions](https://www.theworldwar.org/explore/exhibitions/online-exhibitions). 
3. “[The posters that sold World War I to the American Public](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/posters-sold-world-war-i-american-public-180952179/?no-ist),” *Smithsonian* magazine. 

Overview

Why did the United States get involved in the predominantly European conflict, World War I (1914-1918)? Ever since George Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality in 1793, the United States had mostly avoided European conflicts. In the late nineteenth century, however, isolation was not longer possible—due to American imperialism, industrial trade interests, and massive European immigration. On June 28th, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in the city of Sarajevo. For a multitude of reasons, this dragged the major European powers and their colonial possessions into a global conflict. US opinion on the war was divided and President Woodrow Wilson at first declared the US neutral. Submarine warfare from German forces, including the sinking of the *Lusitania*, increased popular and political support for US entry into the war. On April 6, 1917, at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson, the United States Congress declared war. The sources below explore the United States’ brief but eventful involvement in World War I.


English

World War I: America Heads to War

world-war-i-america-heads-war_06_fd857392ac78cfd45181aa4b5536e376.jpg

Courtesy of University of South Carolina, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections via South Carolina Digital Library.

Townsend, Harry Everett, “War rages in France,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/e5f2cde5495361a0a36401a9b1d6ae65.


An American poster encouraging assistance to war-torn France.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 6 of 15 in the Primary Source Set World War I: America Heads to War