The primary events that led to the United States declaration of war against Germany were the Zimmerman Telegram and Germany's proclaim intention to resumeunrestricted<span> submarine warfare. </span>
One of the main reasons why New England merchants became leading members of society is because they were able to accumulate large amounts of wealth, due to the fact that trade was quite profitable during this time.
Because the only way (back then) to process and make sugar farms was through manual labor. Since the Americans didn't want to put effort onto their own sugar farms, Africans were forced to do the labor part for them.