President Wilson's Joint Address to Congress

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson delivered this address to a joint session of Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. The resulting congressional vote brought the United States into World War I.

In 1914, hostilities had broken out between several nations of Europe. Almost immediately, President Wilson declared America’s intent to stay neutral. However, Wilson and the United States found it increasing difficult to remain neutral. The series of events between 1915 and 1917 led Wilson to finally deliver his war message to Congress on April 2, 1917.

German submarine warfare had resulted in the sinking of several ships and the loss of American lives. Most remarkable was the attack against the Lusitania, on May 7, 1915, when 128 Americans died. While that ship flew the American flag of neutrality, it also carried several thousand cases of ammunition and shrapnel headed to Britain. After stern warnings from Wilson, the Germans pledged to abide by traditional rules of search and seizure.

Increasingly, however, America was drawn to the side of the British. In addition to the historic and cultural ties to both Britain and France, munitions shipments to those countries from the United States had increased from around $6 million in 1914 to almost $500 million in 1917. American bankers had loaned the Allies over $2 billion.

On the heels of the German announcement to renew unrestricted submarine warfare on February 1, 1917, the British, on February 24, revealed the Zimmerman Telegram. When Wilson released the message to the press on March 1, Americans were shocked and angered.

With the support of his entire cabinet, Wilson, who had been reelected in 1916 on the slogan “He kept us out of war,” reluctantly concluded that war was inevitable. In his speech before a special session of Congress, Wilson declared that not only had America’s rights as a neutral nation been violated, but that “The world must be made safe for democracy.” Americans must fight “for the rights and liberties of small nations” and to “bring peace and safety to make the world itself at last free.”

Transcript

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS:

I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should assume the responsibility of making.

On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in the war, but since April of last year the Imperial Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its undersea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that passenger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in their open boats. The precautions taken were meager and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance in the progress of the cruel and unmanly business, but a certain degree of restraint was observed. The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom: without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct through the proscribed areas by the German Government itself and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle. I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to the