Changes

But most in America felt it was time to stay out of Europe and let Germany, France, England and Italy solve their own conflicts.  No one in America expected the Holocaust, and Hitler kept it quiet even after it began in 1942.  In the late 1930s, the debate over involvement by the United States in Europe had almost nothing to do with discrimination against Jewish people by the Nazis.  Discrimination based on race was common throughout the world, and the United States herself had many laws or policies discriminating based on race.

But most in America felt it was time to stay out of Europe and let Germany, France, England and Italy solve their own conflicts.  No one in America expected the Holocaust, and Hitler kept it quiet even after it began in 1942.  In the late 1930s, the debate over involvement by the United States in Europe had almost nothing to do with discrimination against Jewish people by the Nazis.  Discrimination based on race was common throughout the world, and the United States herself had many laws or policies discriminating based on race.

In an effort to remain neutral, Congress passed several laws between 1935 and 1937 making it illegal for Americans to lend money to a nation at war, or sell it weapons.  But by 1941, President Roosevelt felt he needed to help England, and he persuaded Congress to pass the Lend-Lease Act to allow him to lend or lease weapons to any nation that he considered to be vital to the United States.  As a practical matter, this meant that President Roosevelt could now help England.  President Roosevelt ordered the U.S. Navy to begin escorting British ships that carried American arms, and Hitler predictably responded by commanding his U-boats (submarines) to sink cargo ships.  When a U-boat shot torpedoes at a U.S. destroyer in the Atlantic in September 1941, President Roosevelt ordered the U.S. ships to fire back.  An unofficial war had begun between the United States and Germany.

In an effort to remain neutral, Congress passed several laws between 1935 and 1937 making it illegal for Americans to lend money to a nation at war, or sell it weapons.  But by 1941, President Roosevelt felt he needed to help England, and he persuaded Congress to pass the [[Lend-Lease Act]] to allow him to lend or lease weapons to any nation that he considered to be vital to the United States.  As a practical matter, this meant that President Roosevelt could now help England.  President Roosevelt ordered the U.S. Navy to begin escorting British ships that carried American arms, and Hitler predictably responded by commanding his U-boats (submarines) to sink cargo ships.  When a U-boat shot torpedoes at a U.S. destroyer in the Atlantic in September 1941, President Roosevelt ordered the U.S. ships to fire back.  An unofficial war had begun between the United States and Germany.

President Roosevelt met secretly with Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, in August 1941 on a boat in the Atlantic.  They agreed on a declaration for free trade and self-determination, disarmament of aggressor states (e.g., Japan and Germany) and freedom of the seas. This became known as the Atlantic Charter.  The United States and Great Britain renounced any territorial ambitions, and expansion against the wishes of local populations was condemned.  The Soviet Union soon endorsed the Atlantic Charter and it later provided the ideological foundation for the United Nations.  

President Roosevelt met secretly with Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, in August 1941 on a boat in the Atlantic.  They agreed on a declaration for free trade and self-determination, disarmament of aggressor states (e.g., Japan and Germany) and freedom of the seas. This became known as the Atlantic Charter.  The United States and Great Britain renounced any territorial ambitions, and expansion against the wishes of local populations was condemned.  The Soviet Union soon endorsed the Atlantic Charter and it later provided the ideological foundation for the United Nations.