Download Chapter 20 Section 4

I.
America
Enters
the
War
2
FDR Supports England
A. Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
1. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill asked
President Roosevelt to transfer old American destroyers to
Britain, which had lost nearly half its destroyers.
2. Roosevelt used a loophole in the neutrality act that
required cash for purchases to provide Churchill with the
destroyers.
3. In exchange for the right to build American bases on
British-controlled Newfoundland, Bermuda, and islands
in the Caribbean, Roosevelt sent 50 old destroyers to
Britain. Because the deal did not involve an actual sale,
the neutrality act did not apply.
America Enters the War 3
B. The Isolationist Debate
1. At one extreme was the Fight for Freedom
Committee, a group that urged the repeal of all
neutrality laws and stronger action against Germany.
2. At the other extreme was the America First
Committee that was a staunchly isolationist group
opposed to any American intervention or aid to the Allies.
3. Closer to the center, the Committee to Defend
America by Aiding the Allies, pressed for increased
American aid to the Allies but opposed armed
intervention.
4. Roosevelt decided to run for a third term against the
Republican nominee, Wendell Willkie. The voters
reelected Roosevelt by a wide margin, preferring to
keep a president they knew during the crisis period.
This broke the two-term tradition established by
George Washington.
America
Enters
the
War
4
C. Edging Toward War
1. The Lend-Lease Act allowed the United States to lend
or lease arms to any country considered “vital to the
defense of the United States.” The act allowed Roosevelt
to send weapons to Britain if the British government
promised to return or pay rent for them after the war.
2. After Germany invaded the Soviet union in June 1941,
The United States send lend-lease aid to the Soviet
Union.
D. A Hemispheric Defense Zone
1. Roosevelt declared that the entire western half of the
Atlantic was part of the Western Hemisphere and,
therefore, neutral.
2. Roosevelt then ordered the U.S. Navy to patrol the
western Atlantic and reveal the location of German
submarines to the British.
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E. The Atlantic Charter
1. In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill met on
board American and British warships near
Newfoundland.
2. The Atlantic Charter was an agreement between the
U.S. and Britain that committed both nations to a
postwar world of democracy, nonaggression, free
trade, economic advancement, and freedom of the
seas.
3. The U.S. and Germany were fighting an unofficial
war in the Atlantic. The worse incident was when a
German U-Boat torpedoed the Reuben James which
resulted in the death of 115 American sailors.
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II. Japan Attacks
A. America Embargoes Japan
1. To hinder Japanese aggression, Roosevelt began
applying economic pressure by blocking the sale of
airplane fuel and scrap iron to Japan.
2. In 1941 Roosevelt began sending lend-lease aid to
China.
3. After Japan sent military forces in to southern
Indochina, Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the
U.S. and reduced the amount of oil being shipped to
Japan.
4. Roosevelt also sent Douglas MacArthur to the
Philippines.
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B. Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
1. American intelligence had decoded Japanese
communications that made it clear that Japan was
preparing to go to war against the United States. The
Americans did not know where the Japanese
planned to attack.
2. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor resulting in the deaths of 2,403 Americans
and destruction to eight battleships, three cruisers,
four destroyers, and six other vessels. Another 1,178
Americans were injured.
3. President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war
the next day. The United States entered WWII.
America Enters the War
C. Germany Declares War
1. Hitler greatly underestimated the strength of the
United States.
2. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy both declared
war on the United States.