ighting. Although we had declared ourselves neutral, we had to uphold our national ideals and do what was morally right or risk our global credibility. Throughout the next three years, several actions taken by the Germans challenged our neutral sympathies and provoked Wilson's involvement. In April of 1915, a German U-boat sank the Lusitania. In April of 1916, the Germans sank another passenger vessel, the Sussex, killing eighty people. In February of 1917, a German agent by the name of Zimmerman was delivering a message of alliance to the Mexicans. The Kaiser was trying to bait Mexico into the conflict with promises of the return of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona into Mexican boundaries.
             President Wilson immediately reacted to all three major events. He forbade Germany to use submarines after the Lusitania incident, and after the sinking of the Sussex, he sent an ultimatum to Germany that resulted in a promise not to sink any more ships: the Sussex Pledge. When the Zimmerman Note was intercepted, Wilson realized the dangers threatening our national borders and allowed our merchant ships
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