When Woodrow Wilson became president, the United States had much more idealistic trends than under McKinley or Roosevelt, which extended into the early stages of World War I. Wilson’s new direction in American foreign policy began with the riddance of dollar diplomacy, which was diplomacy between nations regulated by monetary necessity and foreign loans. Additionally, the Panama Canal Tolls Act of 1912 was repealed which let shippers from the United States to not pay the tolls for the canal, and the Jones Act in 1916 gave full territorial status to the Philippines, who could then gain independence when a stable government was established. This huge step towards international equality and idealism reflects Wilson’s view of “democracy… the rights and liberties of small nations… peace
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Similar to this scheme, Wilson warned Germany being accountable of sinking American ships, with Germany seemingly not promising a pledge, like the broken pledge after the sinking of the Arabic, leading to the sinking of the Sussex and the eventual Sussex Pledge. Finally, his influence on World War I included his Fourteen Points, with his vision for abolishing secret treaties, a freedom of the seas, a removal of economic barriers, a reduction of armament burdens, and an adjustment of colonial claims, to help deligitimize old empires to open the road for national independence. Also, his idea for the League of Nations, the international organization for a system of collective security, coincided with his belief in world peace and helping the countries towards working together for that common goal (Doc I). Wilson as an idealist, and the driver of American foreign policy, helped America not focus on imperialism, and focus more on his view towards world peace throughout World War
Similar to this scheme, Wilson warned Germany being accountable of sinking American ships, with Germany seemingly not promising a pledge, like the broken pledge after the sinking of the Arabic, leading to the sinking of the Sussex and the eventual Sussex Pledge. Finally, his influence on World War I included his Fourteen Points, with his vision for abolishing secret treaties, a freedom of the seas, a removal of economic barriers, a reduction of armament burdens, and an adjustment of colonial claims, to help deligitimize old empires to open the road for national independence. Also, his idea for the League of Nations, the international organization for a system of collective security, coincided with his belief in world peace and helping the countries towards working together for that common goal (Doc I). Wilson as an idealist, and the driver of American foreign policy, helped America not focus on imperialism, and focus more on his view towards world peace throughout World War