the us at war
The United States and the Great War (World War I) – 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
An increasingly pluralistic United States faced profound domestic and global challenges, debated the proper
degree of government activism, and sought to define its international role.
STORY LINE:
ASSIGNMENT: CONTEXT READINGS: VOCABULARY/CONCEPTS AND CONTEXT QUESTIONS – Questions 1 and 2
complete for Friday. Questions 3 and 4 complete for Monday.
Read on-line textbook chapter 21 and look over PowerPoint on World War I and answer the following four
questions.
Explain the significance of the terms in your response. Each question should be answered in sentence form and
should be at least TWO paragraphs each. Links are provided to details not in textbook
1. Causation: Explain why Wilson’s policy of neutrality failed to keep the United States out of World War I.
A. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare, HMS Lusitania, Zimmerman Telegram.
B. Compare & Contrast: Election of Wilson 1916, “He Kept Us Out of War” to April 6, 1917, Declaration of
War “to make the world safe for democracy”.
2. Historical Context: How did the United States prepare and win support for the war effort?
A. Armed Forces: Selective Service Act 1917, American Expeditionary Force (AEF), “Doughboys”.
B. Economy: 16th Amendment (Income Tax), Liberty Bonds, War Industries Board, National War Labor
Board.
C. Society: George Creel & the Committee on Public Information (CPI), “Four Minute Men”, Propaganda
“War of the Poster”
D. National Unity “In time of war, the law is silent”: Espionage Act 1917, Sedition Act 1918, Schenck v.
United States (1919), Abrams v. United States (1919), O’Leary vs. United States (1918)
3. Patterns of Change over Time: How were Second Class Citizens affected by the war effort?
A. African-Americans, Women, Immigrants, Great Migration
4. Contextualization: Analyze the reasons behind the U.S. Senate’s refusal to ratify the Versailles Treaty.
A. Wilson’s Fourteen Points, War Guilt Clause
(Reparations), League of Nations, Treaty of
Versailles, Sen Henry Cabot Lodge
(Reservationist), Sen. Robert LaFollette
(Irreconcilables).
Image courtesy of Tom Richey
The following statement will guide our discussions of World War I in class.
Analyze the causes and consequences of United States involvement in World War I, including the failure of
neutrality and the reasons for the declaration of war, the role of propaganda in creating a unified war effort, the
limitation of individual liberties, and Woodrow Wilson’s leadership in the Treaty of Versailles and the creation of
the League of Nations.
Be able to explain the meaning of the cartoons!