=Violations of American Rights.=—­Meanwhile Germany continued to ravage shipping on the high seas.  On January 28, a German raider sank the American ship, William P. Frye, in the South Atlantic; on March 28, a British ship, the Falaba, was sunk by a submarine and many on board, including an American citizen, were killed; and on April 28, a German airplane dropped bombs on the American steamer Cushing.  On the morning of May 1, 1915, Americans were astounded to see in the newspapers an advertisement, signed by the German Imperial Embassy, warning travelers of the dangers in the war zone and notifying them that any who ventured on British ships into that area did so at their own risk.  On that day, the Lusitania, a British steamer, sailed from New York for Liverpool.  On May 7, without warning, the ship was struck by two torpedoes and in a few minutes went down by the bow, carrying to death 1153 persons including 114 American men, women, and children.  A cry of horror ran through the country.  The German papers in America and a few American people argued that American citizens had been duly warned of the danger and had deliberately taken their lives into their own hands; but the terrible deed was almost universally condemned by public opinion.

=The Lusitania Notes.=—­On May 14, the Department of State at Washington made public the first of three famous notes on the Lusitania case.  It solemnly informed the German government that “no warning that an unlawful and inhumane act will be committed can possibly be accepted as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abatement of the responsibility for its commission.”  It called upon the German government to disavow the act, make reparation as far as possible, and take steps to prevent “the recurrence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of warfare.”  The note closed with a clear caution to Germany that the government of the United States would not “omit any word or any act necessary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment.”  The die was cast; but Germany in reply merely temporized.

In a second note, made public on June 11, the position of the United States was again affirmed.  William Jennings Bryan, the Secretary of State, had resigned because the drift of President Wilson’s policy was not toward mediation but the strict maintenance of American rights, if need be, by force of arms.  The German reply was still evasive and German naval commanders continued their course of sinking merchant ships.  In a third and final note of July 21, 1915, President Wilson made it clear to Germany that he meant what he said when he wrote that he would maintain the rights of American citizens.  Finally after much discussion and shifting about, the German ambassador on September 1, 1915, sent a brief note to the Secretary