Splash Screen

Chapter Menu

Chapter Introduction

Section 1:America and the World

Section 2:World War II Begins

Section 3:The Holocaust

Section 4:America Enters the War

Visual Summary

Section 4-Key Terms

Content Vocabulary

• hemispheric defense zone

• strategic materials

Academic Vocabulary

• revise

• purchase

• underestimate

Section 4-Key Terms

People and Events to Identify

• America First Committee

• Lend-Lease Act

• Atlantic Charter

Section 4

FDR Supports England

President Roosevelt favored changes in American neutrality laws, although Americans remained divided about the war and American involvement.

Section 4

• Soon after the war began, Roosevelt called Congress into a special session to revise the neutrality laws.

− Under the Neutrality Act of 1939, warring nations could buy weapons from the U.S. only on a “cash-and-carry” basis.

− He used a loophole in the neutrality act to send 50 old American destroyers to Churchill in exchange for the right build American bases on British-controlled Newfoundland, Bermuda, and islands in the Caribbean.

FDR Supports England (cont.)

Section 4

• A heated neutrality debate took place during the 1940 presidential election campaign.

• There were three committees with different viewpoints:

FDR Supports England (cont.)

− The Fight for Freedom Committee

− The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies

− The America First Committee

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 4

A B C D

0% 0%0%0%

Which stance did FDR take during the 1940 presidential election?

A. A course between neutrality and intervention

B. An isolationist stance

C. An internationalist stance

D. He aligned himself with the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies.

Section 4

Edging Toward the War

In 1940 and 1941, the United States took more steps to provide aid to Great Britain.

Section 4

• By December 1940, Great Britain had run out of funds to wage war against Germany.

Edging Toward the War (cont.)

− Roosevelt proposed the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed the United States to lend or lease arms to any country considered “vital to the defense of the United States.”

− After Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, this act also helped them.

Section 4

• Because the United States was still technically neutral, Roosevelt could not order the U.S. Navy to protect British cargo ships.

Edging Toward the War (cont.)

− Instead, he developed the idea of a hemispheric defense zone.

− He then ordered the U.S. Navy to patrol the western Atlantic and reveal the location of German submarines to the British.

Aiding Britain, 1939–1941

Section 4

• In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on the text of the Atlantic Charter.

Edging Toward the War (cont.)

− By late September, an additional 15 anti-Axis nations had signed the charter.

• In early September 1941, a German U-boat fired on an American destroyer.

− Another U-boat sank the Reuben James, killing 115 sailors.

− As the end of 1941 drew near, Germany and the U.S. continued a tense standoff.

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 4

A B C D

0% 0%0%0%

The United States and England agreed to which terms in the Atlantic Charter?

A. A postwar world of peace

B. Always helping the other in times of war

C. Defeating Germany

D. Keeping a stockpile of weapons for the other country

Section 4-End

Figure 8

DFS Trans 4

Vocab19

revise

to make changes to an original document

Vocab17

hemispheric defense zone

national policy during World War II that declared the Western Hemisphere to be neutral and that the United States would patrol this region against German submarines