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America Moves
Toward War
Big Questions

As we discuss the steps the United States
took to help its allies before going to war,
think about the following:

Did the United States abandon its neutrality too
late? Should the United States have done more
to help its allies in the early stages of the war, or
did FDR make the right decisions?
The United States Musters Its
Forces


President Roosevelt
thought that the United
States would eventually
be involved in World
War II, and so he took
measures to prepare
the United States
His decisions were
controversial, but they
did prepare the US for
what was to come
?
What did the
Neutrality Act
allow?
•
Permitted nations
to buy U.S.
armaments as long
as they paid cash
and carried the
goods away in
their own ships
Called cash and
carry
1939
Congress passes
Neutrality Act.

•
Early Steps

Peacetime draft, 1940– Draft
was used to enlarge the army,
but these men could only serve
in the western hemisphere

Third term, 1940 – Roosevelt
was elected President to keep
the same president through the
crisis
The Axis Powers

Hitler, Mussolini, and Hideki
Tojo formed a defensive
alliance with each other

This alliance was formed to
discourage the United
States from entering the
war; if US attacked any of
them, the rest would come
to help
“The Great Arsenal of
Democracy”

President Roosevelt
thought that if the Great
Britain fell to the Axis, the
United States would not be
safe

Decided to help Britain by
becoming the “great arsenal
of democracy”
Section 4: America Moves Toward War- A Sequence of Events

1941 – Congress
passes Lend-Lease
Act.
?
What did the LendLease Act do?
(552)

Allowed the
president to lend
or lease arms and
supplies to “any
country whose
defense was vital
to the U.S.”
Hitler Invades the Soviet Union


In June 1941, Hitler
broke his nonaggression pact with
Soviet Union and
invaded it
Soon Roosevelt,
Churchill, and Stalin will
all be allies – Allied
Powers
Japanese Ambitions in the
Pacific Ocean




Japanese started by invading
China (Manchuria) and then
started going after European
colonies in Asia – Europeans
busy fighting Hitler
Only United States lay in the
way of Japan’s ambitions
US protested Japanese
invasions – US cut off trade
with Japan, including oil
If Japan couldn’t re-establish
the flow of oil to its country,
then they would lose the war
without ever being defeated in
battle

1941
Japan takes over French
military bases in
Indochina.
Section 4: America Moves Toward War- A Sequence of Events

?
What did the U.S.
do to protest
Japan’s action?
(555)

The U.S. punished
Japan with a trade
embargo.
1941
Congress extends
the draft.
Section 4: America Moves Toward War- A Sequence of Events
1941
Churchill and Roosevelt draft the
Atlantic Charter
(in secret)

?
What pledges were
contained in the Atlantic
Charter? (554)
•
Collective security
Disarmament
Self-determination
Economic cooperation
Freedom of the Jews
•
•
•
•
War Is Coming…





Hideki Tojo promised to Japanese emperor that
Japan would avoid war with United States if possible
November 5, 1941 – Tojo orders Japanese navy to
prepare for an attack on the United States
US broke Japanese codes and was reading their
messages
December 6, 1941 – US intercepts message to
Japanese peace envoy to reject all American peace
proposals
FDR – “This means war.”
Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor



Pearl Harbor was
largest US naval base
in the Pacific Ocean
Early on December 7th,
1941, over 180
Japanese planes
attacked Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor caught
completely by surprise;
not ready for the attack
The Damage




In less than 2 hours, Japanese
killed 2,403 Americans and
wounded 1,178
Sunk or damaged 21 ships,
including 8 battleships
(considered the most important
ships in the fleet)
300 aircraft severely damaged
or destroyed
Luckily, at the time of the
attack, 3 aircraft carriers were
not in Pearl Harbor; these
would be important as the war
with the Japanese went on
Reaction to Pearl Harbor




President Roosevelt hadn’t wanted to fight this war
on two fronts; saw Germany as the greater threat,
but now had to fight Japan, as well
Roosevelt, in a famous speech, asked Congress to
declare war against Japan; Congress quickly did so
Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war
on the United States
Very few people now saw isolationism as the
answer; felt that the United States needed to go allout to defeat the Japanese
Section 4: America Moves Toward War- A Sequence of Events
Pearl Harbor: First 24
Hours
Pearl Harbor movie attack scene
part 1
(10 minutes)
Roosevelt: A day which will live in
Infamy
(3 minutes)
Attack scene part 2
Section 4: America Moves Toward War- A Sequence of
Events
World War II: Alliance http://lcweb.loc.gov/ exhibits/ archives/ worw.html
Summary of the role of the Lend-Lease Act in the alliance between the
United States and the Soviet Union. Part of a site devoted to the Library of
Congress's Revelations from the Russian Archives exhibit.
The U-Boat War, 1939–1945 http://uboat.net/
Site providing a comprehensive look at the boats, the men, and the Atlantic
and Mediterranean sea battles between the Germans and the Allies.
Pearl Harbor Remembered http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/index.html
Comprehensive information about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor,
including maps and survivors' accounts
The Coast Guard and the North Atlantic Campaign http://www.uscg.mil/ hq/ gcp/ history/ h_AtlWar.html
Detailed story of the U.S. Coast Guard's role in the war in the Atlantic
As found on classzone.com