America Moves
Toward War
Chapter 16, Section 4
Cash-and-Carry Law
Allowed U.S. to sell weapons to
nations who were at war as
long as those nations paid cash
and transported the weapons
themselves
Designed to help Britain and
France
FDR argued this would help
Britain and France defeat
Germany and would keep U.S.
out of the war
Axis Powers
Germany, Italy, and
Japan signed a mutual
defense treaty known
as the Tripartite Pact
Aimed at keeping the
U.S. out of the war
If U.S. joined the war, it
would face a two-ocean
war in the Atlantic and
Pacific
U.S. Increased Aid to British
U.S. sent rifles and
machine guns to the
British
U.S. traded old naval
destroyers for British
naval bases in the
Western Hemisphere
Building U.S. Defenses
U.S. increased military
spending
Congress passed first
peacetime military draft
Nazi victories started to
move U.S. away from
isolationism
Roosevelt Elected to Third Term
FDR decided to run for an
unprecedented third term
as President
FDR and his opponent
both supported aid to
Britain and both promised
to keep the nation out of
war
FDR won election
Election of 1940
“The Great Arsenal of
Democracy”
FDR told the nation that it was
not possible to have peace
with Hitler
FDR warned that if Britain fell
then Hitler would try to
conquer the rest of the world
FDR said that the U.S.
needed to help defeat the Axis
powers by being the “great
arsenal of democracy”
Lend-Lease Act
By late 1940, Britain was out of
cash
FDR suggested a lend-lease
plan
U.S. would lend or lease weapons
and supplies to any nation “whose
defense was vital to the United
States”
Americans favored the plan, and
Congress passed the Lend-Lease
Act in March 1941
U.S. Neutrality
Isolationist Position
Interventionist Position
U.S. should not tie its
The events of Europe
future to the eternal wars in
Europe
U.S. would suffer financial
and military hardships
The war was Europe’s
problem
America had its own
problems
affected the U.S. and the
world
Germany was interested in
worldwide conquest
America could not live
peacefully in a Nazicontrolled world
The U.S. had an obligation
to defend democracy
Germany Invaded the Soviet
Union
Hitler and Stalin had
entered into the Nonaggression Pact in 1939
Hitler violated the
agreement in June 1941
and invaded the Soviet
Union
Germany and the Soviet
Union were at war
Supporting Stalin
FDR and the United States
began sending lend-lease aid
to the Soviet Union
Some Americans opposed
sending aid to a communist
country
Churchill: If Hitler invaded Hell,
the British would be allies with
the Devil
German Wolf Packs
Supply lines had to be kept
open to Britain and to the
Soviet Union
Germany used U-boats
(submarines) to attack U.S.
supply ships
Wolf packs attacked U.S. ships
in coordinated attacks
FDR gave U.S. Navy
permission to sink German Uboats in self-defense
Naval Attacks
Allied ships began to use
sonar to locate German
submarines
U.S. and Germany were
essentially at war in the
Atlantic by the summer
of 1941
Sept. 1941: FDR gave
U.S. ships the power to
shoot any U-boat on
sight
The Atlantic Charter
FDR and Churchill agree
to a joint declaration of
war goals called the
Atlantic Charter
FDR told Churchill that
he couldn’t ask for a
declaration of war from
Congress yet
But U.S. would do all it
could to help wage war on
Germany
The Allies
The Atlantic Charter
became the common
goals of the Allies in
World War II
Signed by 26 nations
Nations that fought against
the Axis powers
Prelude to War
FDR gave order for U.S.
Navy to shoot German
submarines on sight
German U-boats
continued to torpedo U.S.
ships
Congress allowed
merchant ships to be
armed
U.S. and Germany on the
verge of war
Japan’s Ambitions in the Pacific
Japan invaded China in July
1937
Japan began conquering
British and French islands in
the Pacific
Only U.S. island territories
remained as an obstacle to
Japanese control of the
Pacific
Japanese officers after the invasion of China
U.S. Cut Off Trade to Japan
U.S. protested Japanese
aggression by halting trade
with Japan
Japan could not live without oil
from the U.S.
Japanese leaders warned that
Japan would have to convince
U.S. to stop embargo or would
have to capture Dutch East
Indies for oil fields
Peace Talks with Japan
Japan and U.S. entered into
peace talks
But Tojo prepared for an attack on
the U.S.
U.S. intercepted Japanese
message and learned Japan was
preparing for an attack
Did not know where
FDR warned Pacific military
commanders of an imminent strike
FDR wanted Japan to strike first
On the Verge
Peace talks continued
On Dec. 6, 1941, U.S.
intercepted message
telling Japanese
peace negotiators to
reject any American
proposals
U.S. knew that this likely
meant war
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was
largest U.S. naval base
in the Pacific
Japanese goals for the
attack:
Weaken U.S. navy to
prevent resistance
Break U.S. morale
Cost U.S. time in
rebuilding its navy
Photo of attack, taken from a Japanese plane
Attack on Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
180 Japanese
aircraft launched
from six aircraft
carriers attacked
Pearl Harbor
Attack lasted an hour
and a half
Attack launched in two
waves
U.S. antiaircraft guns
barely made an impact
Results:
Sank 4 battleships
Damaged 4
battleships
Sank or damaged 3
cruisers and 3
destroyers
Destroyed 188
aircraft
Damaged more
than 100 additional
aircraft
Killed 2,403
Injured 1,178
Reaction to Pearl Harbor
FDR: “a date which will live
in infamy”
FDR knew that U.S. would
have to absorb many losses
in the war as it built up its
military and rebuilt its navy
FDR requested a declaration
of war the following day
President Roosevelt asks for a declaration of war on December 8, 1941
U.S. Declared War
Congress approved FDR’s
request for a declaration of
war against Japan
Three days later, Germany
and Italy declared war on
the U.S.
U.S. faced with the
prospect of a two-front war
The End of Isolationism
Americans united after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
Former isolationists
supported an all-out war
effort
Defense spending would
end the Great Depression
Pearl Harbor Memorial
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