Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14.] Even if
some of the governments were influenced to a greater or lesser
extent by selfish motives, they still recognized a common interest
of the peoples of the world, a "cause of mankind," and based their
appeals upon it. The prime minister of England said, "We must not
allow any sense of revenge, any spirit of greed, any grasping
desire, to overcome the fundamental principles of righteousness."
Faraway Siam declared that she entered the war "to uphold the
sanctity of international rights against nations showing a
contempt for humanity." And little Guatemala proclaimed that she
had "from the first adhered to and supported the attitude of the
United States in defense of the rights of nations, of liberty of
the seas, and of international justice." Our President said that
"what we demand in this war is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It
is that the world be made fit and safe to live in for every peace-
loving nation. ... All the peoples of the world are in effect
partners in this interest."

The avowed purpose for which the United States entered the war,
and for which "all the peoples of the world are in effect
partners," is the same as that for which the American
Revolutionary War was fought, which was proclaimed in our
Declaration of Independence, and for which America has always
stood--the equal right of all men to "life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness," and to self-government. Nearly the whole
world was united against a few autocratic governments that denied
these rights.

AMERICA HAS FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS