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Assess the validity of the belief that while President Wilson was making the world "safe for democracy," he was also violating civil liberties at home.

Possible thesis statement: At the same time the U.S. was fighting to create and protect the rights of those overseas, many civil liberties were being violated within the boundaries of the U.S. Making the world "safe for democracy." The President's many speeches about American involvement in the war praised U.S. efforts to bring democracy to the rest of the world and to protect such gains especially through the creation of the League of Nations. Each nation's rights would then be protected through self-determination. Violating civil liberties at home. While the first federal effort to curtail opposition to the war occurred through the patriotic campaign orchestrated by the Committee on Public Information (CPI), the efforts of the CPI and new laws quickly legalized efforts to suppress dissent. The CPI encouraged citizens to report opposition to the war to the Justice Department; the Espionage Act created penalties for the broadly defined crimes of spying, sabotage, and obstruction of the war effort and allowed the post office to ban broadly defined "seditious" materials; the Sabotage and Sedition Acts prohibited public opposition to the war. These new laws, in turn, encouraged state and local entities, as well as ordinary citizens, to spy on their neighbors, create vigilante mobs to "discipline" dissenters (National Security League, Boy Spies of America, American Defense Society), and organize groups of war supporters to root out disloyalty (American Protective League). Many people fell victim to such government-sanctioned efforts: socialists, members of the International Workers of the World, pacifists, labor activists, and immigrants especially those in German-American communities. Victimization included arrests, discrimination, loss of jobs, beatings, and lynchings. Possible conclusion: The reactions of the federal, state, and local governments as well as ordinary citizens to those who opposed the war greatly imperiled the civil liberties of many Americans during the war. Unfortunately, attitudes of intolerance bred within so-called patriotic circles extended to the post-war years. Dissent of any nature in post-war America was believed to be dangerous to the economic, social, and political stability of America. Consequently, the federal government again engaged in a series of actions designed to quell dissent that became known as the "Red Scare."

1. Discuss the reasons the U.S. entered the war and then assess the extent to which the United States achieved its officially stated objective for entering World War I. (Adapted from the 2000 A.P. United States History free-response question.)

Possible thesis statement: Several reasons contributed to the U.S. decision to enter World War I reasons that had little to do with the stated objective for entering the war. Reasons for entering the war. 1) To responsd to German unrestricted submarine warfare. Submarine attacks were to be launched against America as well as Allied ships in order to cut Britain off from vital supplies. 2) To respond to the Zimmerman telegram. A telegram to the Mexican government intercepted by the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman, stated that if Germany went to war with the U.S., the Mexicans should join Germany in its fight. In return, they would receive Texas and much of the American Southwest, which were lost to Mexico in the 19th Century. 3) Inability to remain neutral. Many Americans could not remain neutral; some sympathized with Germany and others with Britain, while many were influenced by British anti-German propaganda. 4) Economic realities also hindered neutrality; it would be economically difficult to stop trading with Britain and France, so the U.S. only blockaded trade with Germany. Objective construction of a new world order. The U.S. would use its entrance into the war as a way to create a new world order based upon a peace that would guarantee self-determination for all nations. The maintenance of such peace would be provided through two vehicles: fourteen distinct principles known as the Fourteen Points, and a U.S. backed League of Nations. The Fourteen Points were divided into three categories: the first eight points recommended postwar boundaries for new nations that replaced the defeated Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires and explained the right of all people to self-determination; five points articulated principles for governing future international conduct freedom of the seas, open covenants, armament reductions, free trade, and impartial negotiation of colonial claims; and the final point proposed the creation of the League of Nations. The League was designed to help implement the Fourteen Points and resolve future controversies that arose among member nations. Achievement of objective. Wilson's Fourteen Points were built solidly on his idealism for a new world order, his belief that the U.S. should lead such an effort, and his certainty that domestic and world opinion would support his just and moral plans for a new world order. His idealism, however, hurt his objective in several ways: his failure to understand that the British and the French would not settle for a generous peace with Germany, his unwise appeal in 1918 to the American people to elect Democrats to Congress, and his decision to exclude prominent Republicans from the negotiating team at the Paris peace conference. Thus, Wilson failed to create the new world order he envisioned. He did, however, achieve the creation of the League of Nations to oversee world affairs and prevent future wars. He also achieved some smaller victories: setting boundaries for new nations and placing former colonies under the mandate system; blocking the French proposal to break Germany into a group of smaller states; and designing two new nations Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Possible conclusion: The reasons the U.S. entered the war were largely defensive in nature: to protect itself against unrestricted German submarine warfare; to respond to the dangers posed in the Zimmerman Telegram; and to act upon its favored nation status with the Allied Powers. The official objective for entering the war, however, had very little to do with these reasons and more to do with President Wilson's idealistic hope to create a new world order at the war's end. While this objective was largely unfulfilled, he did secure the creation of the League of Nations. This, too, eventually met with defeat when the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or to approve U.S. membership in the League.

3. Discuss the social, economic, and political effects World War I had on the home front.

Possible thesis statement: The social, economic, and political fabric of American life was greatly altered during the First World War. Social effects. The lives of African Americans and women improved somewhat during the course of the war. Because the North experienced labor shortages during the war, northern factory owners recruited African Americans from the South to work in the factories. Thus began the "Great Migration" of hundreds of thousands of black residents to the urban North a migration that not only helped the wartime economy, but led to the growth of ethnic communities in the industrialized northern cities where blacks could experience more freedom and autonomy than in the South. Over a million women also worked in a wide range of industrial jobs. The peace movement that evolved during the war gained prominence among women's groups, religious pacifists, Socialists, German Americans, and Irish Americans. Economic effects. In order to raise funds for the war, the U.S. government took several avenues: soliciting loans from Americans by selling Liberty Bonds and organizing the economy to meet wartime needs. To achieve the latter, the Wilson administration created a series of "war boards" to oversee the railroads, supervise fuel supplies, and handle food; and created the War Industries Board to coordinate government purchases of military supplies. While such actions raised the necessary funds to pay for the war, they also helped major industries earn enormous profits and enhanced the private sector through mutually beneficial alliances between the government and businesses. This growth in the private sector depended on labor and laborers often were not satisfied with the conditions under which they worked. Consequently, the federal government created the National War Labor Board to handle labor disputes. The NWLB, in turn, pressured industry to accept an eight-hour day, equal pay for women doing equal work, and recognition of the right of unions to bargain collectively and organize. Laborers had to forgo strikes and employers had to promise not to engage in lockouts. Political effects. Government leaders turned their attention to a significant minority of people who opposed the war and who tried to unite Americans in opposition to the military effort. Consequently, the federal government launched several efforts to quell opposition. The Committee on Public Information (CPI) was designed to distribute pro-war literature, to encourage reporters to exercise self-censorship in reports about the war, and to urge citizens to notify the Justice Department if they learned about those who opposed or belittled the American war effort. The Espionage Act created stiff penalties for broadly defined efforts such as spying, sabotage, or obstructing the war effort; and empowered the post office to ban "seditious" materials. The Sabotage Act and the Sedition Act made illegal any public expression opposing the war, thus allowing the government to prosecute anyone who criticized the government or the president. Possible conclusion: During the war, African Americans and women experienced significant social and economic betterment; the American economy witnessed remarkable growth; and the federal government exercised considerable powers to quell wartime dissent. After the war, social advances for African Americans and women greatly declined. The economic and political changes that occurred during the war continued to characterize American life for only a few years after the war; by late 1920, the economic bubble burst and a postwar recession began. Finally, the political harassment as well as violence expressed towards American dissenters during the war continued to flourish after the war.