Question

\wilsons war message to congress\
april 2, 1917
gentlemen of the congress: i have called the congress into extraordinary
session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made,
and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible
that i should assume the responsibility of making.
on the 3rd of february last i officially laid before you the extraordinary
announcement of the imperial german government that on and after the 1st day
of february it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity
and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the
ports of great britain and ireland or the western coasts of europe or any of the
ports controlled by the enemies of germany within the mediterranean....
it is a war against all nations. american ships have been sunk, american lives
taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and
people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in
the waters in the same way. there has been no discrimination. the challenge is
to all mankind. each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. the choice
we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a
temperateness /cr-vocab-1of judgment befitting our character and our motives
as a nation. we must put excited feeling away. our motive will not be revenge or
the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the
vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion....
with a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step i
am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating
which excerpt from \war message to congress\ expresses president wilsons
opinion?
each nation must
decide for itself
how it will meet it.
on the 3rd of
february last i
officially laid before
you the
extraordinary
announcement of
the imperial
german
government.
it ... used its
submarines to sink
every vessel that
sought to approach
either the ports of
great britain and
ireland.
american ships
have been sunk,
american lives
taken.

Explanation:

To determine which excerpt expresses Wilson's opinion, we analyze each option:

• The first option ("Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it") reflects Wilson's view on how nations should respond to the challenge of the war, as seen in the original text where he states "Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it."
• The second option is a statement of fact about what he did (laid the announcement before Congress), not an opinion.
• The third option is a factual description of Germany's actions, not an opinion.
• The fourth option is a statement of fact about American ships and lives, not an opinion.

Answer:

The first excerpt (Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it)