Charlie Weiler April 8, 2016

DBQ Essay: World War I

On July 28, 1914, World War I, one of the bloodiest conflicts in the history of mankind

erupted. Three years in, the United States joined, ditching its former trend of neutralism. The

United States became involved in Europe as isolationism was not effective. World War I had a

large impact on American society for decades, but the United States almost avoided the war

entirely. Regardless, having no real position in affairs was beginning to eat away at American

morals and values which resulted in America joining a war that changed history forever.

Due to the hectic nature of such a grandly scaled war, World War I had numerous

impacts on American society. One major impact was the passing of the Espionage and Sedition

Acts. [Doc 7] The reason these acts were so important was that they set a precedent for further

interpretation of the First Amendment that is technically still in place today with modern law.

Another impact from World War I on society was the departure of African Americans from the

South to the North as displayed by the graph in Doc 5. This could be associated with them

taking the places of the at-war white men. Finally, World War I impacted society with the influx

of propaganda posters asking for resources. [Doc 6] Often times, the war was used as a selling

point of sorts to persuade people to donate.

Preceding the United States joining the war were various national swings of emotions

from recent events leading up to the US entering. One tremendously notable instance of this

was the Zimmerman Telegram and its contents of Germany plotting against the United States.

[Doc 2] Of course, the British intercepted this telegram, causing widespread anger against
Germany for Americans. Secondly, the US’s position in World War I was influenced by

Woodrow Wilson’s January 22, 1917 speech to the U.S. Senate. [Doc 4] Wilson elaborated on

the ineffectiveness on neutrality and must have been convincing enough to convince the

Senate to go to war. One more major circumstance was the Germans’ sinking of the Lusitania.

Americans were made impatient by this [Doc 3] and rightfully so – the Lusitania sinking was

unauthorized, unnecessary, and unlawful as the attack killed over 1000 people with no position

in the war whatsoever. This violated the Cruiser Rules.

In conclusion, the United States had no choice but to join the war because of

circumstances like the interception of the Zimmerman Telegram. As a result, many things were

impacted by the United States’s involvement in the war. For the first time in a while everything

– women’s rights, prohibition, laws, etc. – were all up in the air.