The United States and Europe: From Neutrality to War, 1921-1941
Lesson Plan #3: U.S. Neutrality and the War in Europe, 1939-1940
I. Introduction
The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 posed a serious challenge to U.S.
neutrality, since Americans’ sympathies lay overwhelmingly with Great Britain and its
allies. The task of remaining neutral became even more formidable in mid-1940, when it
appeared as though Hitler’s Germany might actually win the war. Public sentiment
overwhelmingly favored staying out of the war, yet at the same time most Americans
believed that a German victory would pose a threat to national security. Through a study
of contemporary documents, students in this lesson will learn about the difficult choices
faced by the Roosevelt administration during the first fifteen months of World War II,
culminating in the decision to provide direct military aid to Great Britain.
II. Guiding Question
Did the United States remain truly neutral toward the war in Europe in 1939-1940?
Should it have remained so?
III. Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students should be able to:
 Explain Roosevelt’s understanding of neutrality in September 1939.
 Articulate how Roosevelt sought to revise the neutrality laws in line with this
understanding.
 List the major events of the European war in 1939 and 1940, as well as the
administration’s response to them.
 Identify on a blank map the locations of the major events of the war in Europe in
1939 and 1940.
 Explain the arguments both for and against Roosevelt’s decision in late 1940 to
extend military aid to Great Britain.
IV. Background Information for the Teacher
In September 1939 Hitler unleashed his military forces against Poland. Great Britain and
France, honoring guarantees they had earlier made to the Polish government, declared
war on Germany, thus marking the formal start World War II in Europe. Immediately
Americans were placed in a dilemma. On the one hand, they were determined to stay out
of the war; indeed, they had passed the Neutrality Laws in the mid-1930s to ensure that
the United States would not be drawn into another conflict like World War I. On the
other hand, World War II had begun very differently, the result of direct German
aggression against neighboring states. Thus while almost there was almost no support for
actual U.S. involvement in the war, Americans were practically unanimous in hoping that
Great Britain and its allies (collectively known, as in World War I, as the Allied Powers),
would win.
This was undoubtedly the attitude of the Roosevelt administration, which in September
1939 sought a revision of the neutrality laws that would allow U.S. arms makers to sell
their products to the belligerents, but strictly on a “cash-and-carry” basis—that is, the
purchasing countries would have to pay in cash up front, and transport the merchandise
on their own ships. On the surface it appeared to be a completely neutral proposal—after
all, it would theoretically allow either side to purchase American-made weapons.
However, Roosevelt knew that in practice it would benefit only the Allies, since the
overwhelming superiority of the British at sea would prevent German vessels from
crossing the Atlantic. For this reason the proposed Neutrality Act of 1939 ran into heavy
opposition from those who argued that it would actually increase the likelihood that the
United States might one day be drawn into the war. Nevertheless it passed both houses
of Congress in early November.
In the early months of the war most Americans were confident that the Allies would win.
Hitler’s government, they believed, was not genuinely popular, and when it failed to
deliver a quick victory it would either be forced to surrender its conquests or face a
revolution at home. These hopes, however, were dashed in the spring and summer of
1940, when in a series of rapid offensives German forces managed to conquer Denmark,
Norway, the Low Countries, and finally France, all in rapid succession. Great Britain
now stood alone against Germany and its allies. Both the German army and air force
were far larger than their British counterparts, and even though the Royal Navy was far
more powerful than that of Germany, German submarines were able to exact a terrible
toll against British shipping. Thus by late 1940 the British Isles were being subjected to
withering attacks from the air and the sea, while the possibility of a German invasion
loomed on the horizon.
These developments came as a shock to the American people, and deepened the dilemma
of neutrality. What if Germany won the war—what next? Would the United States
become a target? What if the Germans were able to gain control of the Royal Navy?
Would the U.S. economy be able successfully to compete in a German-dominated world?
These were questions that haunted President Roosevelt and his advisers. Given that 1940
was an election year, the president was unwilling to take aggressive steps toward
assisting the British; he knew that the American people, as worried as they might have
been about the prospects of a German victory, still had no desire to enter the war.
However, in early December—only a few weeks after Roosevelt was elected to a third
term as president—Prime Minister Churchill sent him a long letter [the complete text of
which may be found at the site of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/website_online_version/psf/box34/a311s02.html] in
which he spelled out Britain’s prospects for 1941. His government had no intention of
surrendering, he assured the president, but British losses—particularly at sea—were
taking their toll. The country’s cash reserves were almost entirely depleted, and within a
few weeks Britain would no longer be able to afford to purchase arms and other essential
supplies from the United States. If this happened, Churchill warned, there was little
chance of defeating Germany.
Roosevelt’s response to this request would be known as Lend-Lease, a policy which he
unveiled to the nation in a “fireside chat” broadcast on December 29 [the text of which
may be found at the EDSITEment-reviewed resource “Teaching American History”
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=657]. The defense
of Great Britain, he told listeners, was essential to the defense of the United States. The
British were not asking for Americans to enter the war, only to provide them with the
materials that they needed to defeat Germany on their own. The United States, therefore,
must become the “arsenal of democracy,” producing weapons that would be loaned to
Great Britain for the duration of the war.
The Lend-Lease Act sparked a massive political debate, both in Congress and throughout
the country at large. The conflict focused not only on whether the United States ought to
be in the business of providing direct aid to a foreign country at war, but also on the
broader question of what role the country should play in world affairs. This is a debate
that will be covered more thoroughly in the next lesson. The essential point, however, is
that by the end of 1940 Roosevelt had successfully redefined the meaning of the term
“neutrality.” No longer would it be interpreted in a strict sense, as a desire to remain
completely aloof from foreign wars. The new concept of neutrality, which would govern
the U.S. approach to both Europe and Asia right up to Pearl Harbor, was not only
compatible with public sympathy for the Allied cause, but also with a foreign policy that
openly assisted Britain and its allies against Germany.
V. Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and links from
EDSITEment-reviewed websites used in this lesson. Download and print out selected
documents and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
Download the Text Document for this lesson, available here as a PDF file. This file
contains excerpted versions of the documents used in the various activities, as well as
questions for students to answer. Print out and make an appropriate number of copies of
the handouts you plan to use in class.
Finally, study the interactive timeline “America on the Sidelines: The United States and
World Affairs, 1931-1941” [http://www.kfallon.com/civ/]. This timeline will, through
text, maps, and photographs, guide students through the major European events of 1939
and 1940, and will ask students for each event to identify (choosing from among a menu
of options) how the Roosevelt administration responded to it. Following this interactive
should illustrate for students how the United States became increasingly (although
indirectly) involved in the war in Europe.
Analyzing primary sources:
If your students lack experience in dealing with primary sources, you might use one or
more preliminary exercises to help them develop these skills. The Learning Page at the
American Memory Project of the Library of Congress
(http://memory.loc.gov/learn/start/prim_sources.html#) includes a set of such activities.
Another useful resource is the Digital Classroom of the National Archives, which
features a set of Document Analysis Worksheets
(http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/analysis_worksheets/worksheets.htm
l). Finally, History Matters offers helpful pages on “Making Sense of Documentary
Photography” (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/Photos/) and “Making Sense of Maps”
(http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/maps/) which give helpful advice to teachers in
getting their students to use such sources effectively.
VI. Suggested Activities
Activity #1: Revision of the Neutrality Acts
The Neutrality Acts passed in 1935, 1936 and 1937 were an attempt to keep the United
States out of foreign conflicts. After war broke out in Europe in 1939, however,
President Roosevelt asked Congress to lift the arms embargo provisions of those laws. In
this activity, students will look at three contemporary documents to determine whether
this revision was justified.
To begin, have students read excerpts from the president’s radio address of September 3,
1939, in which he officially declared the neutrality of the United States. It is available in
its entirety at the EDSITEment-reviewed site Teaching American History
(http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=705), but excerpts may
be found on pages 1-2 of the Text Document that accompanies this lesson. As they read,
they should answer the following questions, which may also be found in worksheet form
on page 1 of the Text Document.
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What is Roosevelt’s purpose in making this speech?
What role does Roosevelt see for the United States relative to the European war?
Why, according to Roosevelt, should Americans care about what is going on in
Europe?
Why does the president make a point of saying that he “cannot ask that every
American remain neutral in thought”?
Next hand out the following documents excerpts, which are located on pages 3-6 of the
Text Document (or in their entirety at Teaching American History):

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address before Congress, September 21, 1939:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=706

Radio address by Charles Lindbergh, “Neutrality and War,” October 13, 1939:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1598
These documents either could be read orally in class or assigned for homework. While
students read the documents, they should complete the worksheet, on page 6 of the Text
Document, in which they list both the reasons for and against lifting the arms embargo.
After students have read the documents, have them imagine that they are Congressional
Representatives who must decide on whether or not to do as the president asked. Using
the worksheet that they completed for homework, hold a class discussion in which
students deliberate this important issue. Would the country’s interests be better served by
lifting the arms embargo? Would it make U.S. involvement in the war more or less
likely?
Alternatively this might be developed into a written assignment, with students (still in the
role of members of Congress) asked to write brief statements for or against neutrality
revision.
Activity #2: Should we aid Great Britain?
By late 1940 all of Great Britain’s European allies had gone down to defeat, and England
faced not only aerial attacks on its cities and submarine attacks on its shipping, but the
very real possibility of a full-scale naval invasion. This led to a growing demand that the
United States take more positive action to assist the British.
To begin, have students access the interactive timeline “America on the Sidelines”
[http://www.kfallon.com/civ/] to look at events that occurred in Europe from September
1939 through December 1940. As there are various different documents to read, it is
suggested that one class period be spent in the computer lab using this timeline. From
this interactive students should get a clear sense of Britain’s deepening predicament over
the course of 1940.
Once students have become familiar with world events from this period, students will
assume the role of President Roosevelt. Hand out the following documents, found in
their excerpted form on the corresponding text document, and in their entirety at the site
of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
(http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu, accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed New Deal
Network [http://newdeal.feri.org/].

Winston Churchill to Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 7, 1940:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/website_online_version/psf/box34/a311s02.html

Telegram from the Ambassador to Great Britain (Joseph P. Kennedy) to the
Secretary of State, June 12, 1940:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box3/a38o01.html
Students can either read this for homework or during class. Once they are done reading
the documents, they are to write a five-paragraph letter in response to Churchill’s request
for assistance. Remind students that the neutrality laws—as amended in 1939—remain
in force, thus placing certain limits on the president’s freedom of action.
To conclude, select several students to read their letters to the class.
VII. Assessment
Both the written assignment from activity #1 (if used) and the letter to Roosevelt from
activity #2 might be graded as forms of assessment. Students could also be asked to
write a brief essay in response to the following:
 “Did the United States remain truly neutral toward the war in Europe in 19391940? Should it have remained so?”
In addition, students should be able to locate the following on a blank map:
 Germany
 Denmark
 Norway
 The Netherlands
 Belgium
 France
 Great Britain
VIII. Extending the Lesson
Teachers might wish to have students compare Roosevelt’s neutrality message of
September 3, 1939, with Woodrow Wilson’s neutrality message of August 19, 1914. The
latter is available at the EDSITEment-reviewed Great War Document Archive
(http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914/wilsonneut.html). Students should be asked in
particular to compare how each president seemed to define neutrality—Wilson’s
admonition to be “impartial in thought, as well as action,” could be contrasted to
Roosevelt’s statement that “Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his
conscience.”
Roosevelt’s radio address of December 29, 1940—commonly referred to as his “Arsenal
of Democracy” speech—was his first message to the nation regarding Britain’s plight,
and what he proposed to do about. Although he did not lay out any specifics at this point,
he clearly indicated a willingness to assist the British in any way that he could. Teachers
interested in further exploring this might have their students read the text of that speech—
available at Teaching American History
(http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=657). Students
should take special note of how Roosevelt justifies aid to Britain on the grounds of U.S.
national security. Why, according to him, would a German victory in Europe endanger
the United States? Also worth noting is his accusation that his political opponents—and
certainly he had men like Charles Lindbergh in mind here—were doing “work that the
dictators want done in the United States.” Students might be asked whether such an
accusation is fair.
IX. EDSITEment-reviewed Web Resources Used in this Lesson
Teaching American History: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Radio Address, September 3, 1939:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=705
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address before Congress, September 21, 1939:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=706
Charles Lindbergh, “Neutrality and War,” October 13, 1939:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1598
Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Arsenal of Democracy” speech, December 29, 1940:
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=657
The New Deal Network: http://newdeal.feri.org/
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/
Winston Churchill to Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 7, 1940:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/website_online_version/psf/box3
4/a311s02.html
Telegram from the Ambassador to Great Britain (Joseph P. Kennedy) to
the Secretary of State, June 12, 1940:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box3/a38o01.html
Great War Primary Document Archive: http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/
President Wilson’s Declaration of Neutrality, August 19, 1914:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914/wilsonneut.html
X. Additional Information
 Grade levels: 10-12
 Subject Areas: U.S. History
 Time Required: 2-3 class periods
 Skills:
o Analyzing and comparing first hand accounts
o Debating key issues and topics
o Interpreting written information
o Information gathering
o Making inferences and drawing conclusions
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Observing and describing
Representing ideas and information orally, graphically and in writing.
Utilizing the writing process
Utilizing technology for research and study of primary source
documents
o Vocabulary development
o Working collaboratively
Standards Alignment: www.ncss.org/standards/strands/
o NCSS-2—Time, Continuity, and Change: The study of the ways
human beings view themselves in and over time.
o NCSS-3—People, Places and Environment: The study of people,
places, and environments
o NCSS-5—Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: The study of
interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions.
o NCSS-6—Power, Authority, and Governance: How people create and
change structures of power, authority, and governance.
Lesson Writers:
o John Moser, Ashland University, Ashland, OH
o Lori Hahn, Sheffield Middle Senior High School, Warren, PA
Teacher/Student Resources:
o Interactive Timeline
o Text Document
Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans:
o American Diplomacy in World War II
[http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=702]
o “The Proper Application of Overwhelming Force”: The United States
in World War II
[http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=653]
o The Road to Pearl Harbor: The United States and East Asia, 19151941