Why Did America Join World War I?

On April 6, 1917 America officially joined the war, with a vote of eighty-two to six in the Senate and three hundred seventy-three to fifty in the House of Representatives (social). America went from neutrality to war within three years. When America claimed to be neutral, they also accounted neutral rights to fund either side through loans. The Allied powers ( Britain, France and Russia) borrowed two point five billion dollars, while the Central powers only borrowed twenty-seven million dollars, leaving the United States at a greater risk of losing billions of dollars if the central powers were to win (notes). On top of holding most loans with the allies, in 1914 till 1916 American trade with the allies grew (social). The combined prospects of
Not only did the British Naval power blockade German ports but also neutral ports, stopping goods from reaching the German markets. Germany responded with submarine warfare, blockading the British Isles. America claimed that they would do whatever necessary to “safeguard American Lives” and to keep their neutral rights (notes).On February 4, 1915 Germany announced that merchant ships sailing around Britain would also be targeted, even if the ships claimed neutrality, due to the Allies hiding war material on merchant ships and sailing neutral flags to protect themselves. The Germans proclaimed that their submarines would use cruiser tactics for the Americans and rise from the sea and then fight, but they never actually followed through due the dangers of rising and then fighting (history). On May 7, 1915 a British vessel, Lusitania was shot and sunk off the coast of Ireland, killing a hundred and twenty-four Americans (notes). In December of 1915, President Wilson sent an advisor to Europe, seeking to find if he could settle peace between Britain and Germany, but failed