Question

Support or refute the following statement: The U.S. didn’t choose sides in either war based on loyalty or alliance. They chose sides based on economic priorities. Cite two specific pieces of evidence in your answer.

Answer 1

Wrong. At the start of WWI President, Woodrow Wilson wanted the US to remain neutral and most of Americans agreed with that position. However, Britain was one of the US’s main trading partners and when Germany attempted quarantine on British Isles tension arose.

Things started to get worse when Germany sunk or damaged several American ships that were traveling to Britain, especially the “Lusitania” attack that killed 2 thousand passengers, including 128 Americans. The last drop was when the American liner “Housatonic” was sunk by a German U-boat, Congress passed a bill to prepare the US to enter the war.