After Britain and France declared war on Germany, much of the US and the Congress were firmly antiwar isolationists that had passed legislation, including the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s, preventing the US from being involved in European affairs, and even from selling weapons and supplies to our allies.
In 1937, they loosened up a bit, but implemented a limited “cash-and-carry” for non-military goods.
HR 1776 was a plan crafted in late 1940, and passed in early 1941 after FDR’s reelection for the U.S. to supply Britain with much-needed resources without forcing Churchill to pay for them upfront and in essence inched the US closer to declaring war against Germany. It took Pearl Harbor for the US to formerly join the war.
March 11th happens to be my birthday too!
If FDR wasn’t president, and we had a true isolationist in the White House, Britain would not have received any supplies and may have fallen to Hitler.
Open thread.
