A Request for a Declaration of War.

PositionPAIRING A PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCE

President Woodrow Wilson maintained a policy of neutrality on the "European War" during his first term in office. However, in January 1917, soon after Wilson had been elected to a second term, Germany announced it would attack any ship--battleship, cargo ship, cruise ship, or otherwise--from enemy or neutral countries that entered certain European waters. After German submarines sank several U.S. ships in March 1917, Wilson changed his stance on U.S. involvement in the war. Below are excerpts from Wilson's April 2,1917, address to Congress asking for a declaration of war against Germany, which Congress granted four days later. Use the excerpts along with the Upfront article about World War I to answer the questions at the bottom of this page.

Excerpts from President Wilson's Address to Congress, April 2, 1917

Gentlemen of the Congress:

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Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board....

I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to the humane practices of civilized nations.... The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind.

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The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.

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It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we...

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