Woodrow+Wilson

=**Thomas Woodrow Wilson**= =**(1856-1924)**=

General History
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States of America and is well known for his progressive movements around the time of WWI. Wilson had a firm belief in what he called 'self-determination' and that each ethnic group should have the opportunity to decide how they are governed. He was the founder of the League of Nations and played a vital role in shaping the 'Treaty of Versailles,' focusing on the creation of functioning nations out of the broken empires. Woodrow's views on internationalism were so strong that today that same principle is known as 'Wilsonianism' and it calls for the USA to stand up and fight for democracy around the world.

**Early Life (1856-1883)**
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856 in Staunton, Virginia. He was born third of four children to his parents Reverend Dr. Joseph Ruggles Wilson (1822–1903) Jessie Janet Woodrow (1826–1888). His paternal grandparents were immigrants from what is now known as Northern Ireland, while his mother immigrated from England having Scotishish heritage. Wilson grew up in Augusta, Georgia, where his father was minister of the First Presbyterian Church as well as one of the founders of the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States. Growing up Wilson had extreme difficulties reading but compensated for it in his teen years by teaching himself shorthand. Despite that he did well academically through sheer determination and self-disipline.

In 1873 he attended Davidson College in North Carolina for a year until health problems prevented him from continuing onto second year. When his father got a teaching post at Princeton, Wilson transferred in as a freshman. In his second year he began reading heavily on political philosophy and history and he later credited British parliamentary sketch-writer Henry Lucy as hi inspiration to enter the public life. During the rest of his time at Princeton he was active in the undergraduate American Whig-Cliosophic Society discussion club as well as organizing a separate Liberal Debating Society.

After Princeton, in 1879, Wilson moved on to the University of Virginia for law. Unfortunately, his poor health once again caught up with him and he never graduated having only stayed the year. He then returned home to Wilmington, North Carolina where he would continue his studies. Despite his brief stay, Wilson was heavily involved in the school's Virginia Glee Club as well as the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, where he served as the Society's president.

In January 1882 started his own law practice in Atlanta until one of his University of Virginia classmates, Edward Ireland Renick, invited him to join his practice in May of 1882. Wilson passed the Georgia Bar on October 19th, 1882 and despite competition with 143 other lawyers he found enough cases to keep him busy. His success notwithstanding he found that staying current with law took him away from his long-term goals for political achievement, so in April of 1883 Wilson applied to John Hopkins University to obtain his doctorate in history and political science.

**Wilson's Fourteen Points and Self-Determination**
On January 8, 1918, Wilson released to the American people and to the world, his rationale behind USA involvement in the war. His speech, now commonlyknown as Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, it was delivered to a joint session of Congress. His Fourteen Points outlined what he believed to solutions to the original causes of the war. He hoped that in changing what had initially caused the tension another war could be averted.

His key points were: -To outlaw alliances -Freedom of the seas -Free trade -Disarmament -The return of Russian territories conquered by Germany -The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France -The formation of the League of Nations -Self-determination

Self-determination was one of the points that he seemed to fight hardest for. It is defined as " the determining by people of the form their government shall have, without reference to the wishes of any other nation, especially by people of a territory or former colony." He especially believed that people of the same ethnic groups should be placed together and given their chance for self-determination. There were a few exceptions to his rule: the Sudeten Germans and Poles in Czechoslovakia, the Germans in the Polish Corridor and the 50/50 make up of French and German in Alsace-Lorraine. All of this called for major revisions to European frontiers, an idea not everybody was keen on.

** Fun Facts **
-Wilson was one the only presidents to have a Ph.D. -He was over ten years old before he had learned to read -Wilson was in the Glee club at University of Virginia

History Twelve Student Workbook by Jerry Falk Images: -http://www.glogster.com/media/4/20/81/81/20818147.jpg -http://www.old-picture.com/united-states-history-1900s---1930s/pictures/Woodrow-Wilson-008.jpg Wikipedia: -[] Dictionary.com -[]
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