Question

1)what does Zinn suggest are the real reasons the United States entered the war?

Answer 1

1. “The United States claimed the Lusitania carried an innocent cargo, and therefore thetorpedoing was a monstrous German atrocity. Actually, the Lusitania was heavily armed: itcarried 1,248 cases of 3­inch shells, 4,927 boxes of cartridges (1,000 rounds in each box), and2,000 more cases of small­arms ammunition.. . . The British and American governments liedabout the cargo.. . .”

2. Zinn reveals the amounts of private foreign investments the United States held as well asexplaining the way that the nation would benefit from Britain’s victory over Germany in thewar.

3. Zinn’s argument is seemingly convincing. Given the evidence of America’s private foreignaffairs and America’s relations with Britain, it makes sense of Wilson’s true motives toparticipate in the war