Assess how well Americans remained “neutral in fact as well as in name

Assess how well Americans remained “neutral in fact as well as in name” as President Wilson admonished them to do when World War I began in Europe. What factors worked in favor of neutrality? What factors worked against it?

What will be an ideal response?

ANSWER
“Strict” neutrality never really existed. As Bryan charged, there was a tilt toward the Allies in the formulation of policy between 1914 and 1917. American ethnics also had their favorites. What favored neutrality was public opinion, Wilson’s commitment to international law to govern relations between nations, and Wilson’s concern for national unity and his domestic program. Working against neutrality were submarine warfare, British propaganda, Wilson and the cabinet’s tilt toward the Allies, and Wilson’s disgust with Germany for its disregard of international law.