American Neutrality

Learning Target: I will be able to explain what caused Americans to support staying neutral in World War I and be able to give reasons why Germany felt the U.S. was not actually neutral.

Illinois Social Science Standards

SS.H.1.6-8.LC: Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.

SS.H.1.6-8.MdC: Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.

SS.H.1.6-8.MC: Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.

SS.H.2.6-8.LC: Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time.

SS.H.2.6-8.MdC: Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

SS.H.2.6-8.MC: Analyze how people’s perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created.

Key Terms

Neutrality - the government policy of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict
Telegram - a message sent by electronic signals using telegraph and then delivered in written or printed form.
Zimmerman Telegram - a secret communication from the German Foreign Office in 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico against the U.S.

Bell Ringer Discussion

Describe why isolationism failed for the United States?
How did the sinking of the Lusitania impact the United States’ relationship with Germany?
Why did Germany turn to unrestricted submarine warfare during World War I?
How did the Zimmerman Telegram impact the United States during World War I?

Lesson Notes

Urbanization

1861:

9.3: American Neutrality