Our HS also covered things in the way you mention (German submarine warfare and espionage and the Zimmerman telegram), for what it's worth. The reasons for ent

Our HS also covered things in the way you mention (German submarine warfare and espionage and the Zimmerman telegram), for what it's worth. The reasons for entry into WWII were presented as more complex, having to do with differences of opinion in the US regarding entry and so forth. For example, although Pearl Harbor was presented as a precipitating event, it wasn't really presented as the thing that led to US entry. The Lend-Lease Act, for example, was presented as a sort of indirect foray or entry path into the war; Pearl Harbor was presented as a last straw or a formal excuse, one that would have been triggered by Germany or Japan in some way or another if it weren't for Pearl Harbor.