What did most americans understand before their country entered world war i?

At first, people thought that it would do no good for the United States to enter the war.  It was being fought in another continent and it had no effect on them.  When Germans began targeting merchant ships in the Atlantic it was a cause of alarm for the Americans.  Apart from that, they shared close, cultural bonds with Britain.  Then there is the issue of the money they had invested in the Allies.  Finally, the sinking of the Lusitania and the interception of the Zimmerman telegram prompted the Americans to join the war.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

ur answer is in the it