Neutrality Act of 1939

In the 1930s, Congress watched the expanding war in Europe with concern. Many in Congress did not want to become involved in another European war, preferring to remain neutral. Some of these legislators thought that American foreign policy should be directed toward keeping America isolated from the conflicts abroad. President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not agree with the policy of isolation, or restraint from involvement in foreign affairs, particularly the war in Europe against the Nazis. The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and of 1937, written with the intent to keep America safe when other nations were at war, prevented American industry from selling weapons and ammunition to nations involved in war. The idea was that by not selling arms to any side involved in a war, America could remain neutral and continue to trade non-military products with both sides. But Nazi aggression, in the eyes of Roosevelt, could not be ignored. He asked Congress to amend the earlier Neutrality Acts to allow for the sale of weapons and other military equipment to France and England if they paid cash. Initially Congress resisted the request, but after the Nazi attack on Poland in late 1939, Roosevelt was able to persuade enough members of Congress to pass a new version of the Neutrality Act that allowed for the sale of military equipment under tight governmental control.The threats that led to World War II prompted the Neutrality Acts. A U S military bomber aircraft flies over a patchwork of fields as smoke rises from a bombing target on the ground below.(Wikimedia Commons)