Lesson
2: The US initial reaction.
Objective: To learn the initial reaction of the US towards World War I and understand the events that led up to the US entry into the war.
Materials:
spotlight
Research:
Wilson:
Wilson believed that Germany was a “lawless” nation and threatened our strength in Latin America. He wanted the Allies to win without American involvement.
Ties and sentiment:
Many Americans supported the British and French due to language ties and the history of support from the French. Yet there were also many German Americans and Irish Americans (disliked the British) that supported the Central powers. The Germans were often viewed as the aggressors due to the fact that most of the battles took place on Allied soil and that the submarine attacks and poison gas were considered brutal.
War demands supplies, and supply is what the US did while they were neutral. Trade increased with the Allies from 500 million in 1914 to 3.5 billion in 1917. The British blockaded the US from trading with Germany and bought the German bound goods in order to make up for the US losses.
|
British sales |
825 million - 1914 |
3.2 billion - 1916 |
|
German sales |
169 million - 1914 |
1.2 million - 1916 |
|
British loans |
2 billion |
|
|
German loans |
27 million |
|
The Germans considered this supply line to the Allies a “less than neutral” action by the US. The Germans declared shipping in British waters a war zone and warned that any ships that entered would be sunk without warning. A German torpedo sank the Louistania and killed 128 Americans.
The two candidates were Wilson and Hughes. Wilson was portrayed by the Democrats as a man that would keep the nation out of war “He kept us out of war.” Hughes on the other hand was portrayed as a “war hawk.”
The race was very close and Wilson just barely pulled through with 49.4 percent of the vote (Hughes 46.2).
Were we prepared:
100,000 troops and enough ammo for only two days….
Instructional
Activities:
Wilson:
Stand up a Wilson – stand up three more students. Have one of the students throw little pieces of paper at your group. Talk quietly with the group and tell them that we should go over and regulate… Start to follow them and then stop following as they continue. Explain that Wilson was such a man. He hoped the Allies would win without the US and do his dirty work.
Ties:
Bring up a student to draw a European quick-map. Point out the countries just for memory. Then draw a map of the US yourself. Discuss how there were many ties through England (language), France (history), and the Allies.
Then also draw ties because of Irish (against England) and German Americans (for Germany).
German evils: Draw a submarine (explain the old rules and how the Germans no longer followed them). Draw a gas mask and explain what gas was used and what it does to a human.
Economic:
Use the laser show to depict exports, blockades, and U boats.
Campaign:
Bring up Wilson and Hughes and have them give political speeches.
Evaluation/Reflection:
Have the students write a page or so in letter form describing to their parents what they have learned so far in the class, What they liked, and disliked, along with suggestions for the upcoming lesson plans. On the back have them give an outline of the events they have learned about in the past few weeks.