Why Did America Join World War I?

The United States entered World War I for many different reasons including the Zimmerman Note, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the Russian Revolution, among other factors. The Zimmerman note influenced America to join the war because the note stated that Mexico would form an alliance with the central powers and in return the central powers would help Mexico to take back land that it lost to America in the Mexican Session. America would also not want the war to be so close to home, if Mexico did not get involved the war would stay almost entirely in Europe. The Zimmerman Note was also excellent for propaganda because it was initially published by newspapers instead of being officially released by the government. The sinking of the Lusitania

Being able to voluntarily support your country would make it feel like much more of a democracy and patriotic opposed to the government telling people that they had to do something like a dictatorship. With the men off to fight in the war, before, but especially after the draft, women had to fill the places of men in the workforce. They took on jobs that men would normally do. African Americans also were able to take jobs that they normally would not be able to take due to the lack of available work force. This was a way of supporting the country by keeping up the economy and the work back home. The government also encouraged women to help the Red Cross to support the soldiers. Besides a lot of self motivation the government established the Committee of Public Information to put up propaganda posters to ensure that people would want to support the war. Everything began to become a symbol of patriotism. To save on food people made “liberty gardens.” Sauerkraut - a German word - became “liberty cabbage,” and possibly more importantly were the “liberty bonds.” These were bonds that were paid to the government, usually in small denominations that almost any citizen could make, to help support the war. Besides this, the Espionage and Sedition acts were passed in 1917 and 1918 respectively. These stopped people from rallying against the war.