The Destroyers for Bases Agreement

On September 2, 1940, the United States and Great Britain sealed an agreement that transferred 50 U. S. destroyer-type warships to England in return for land rights on several British possessions, including Newfoundland, the Baha­mas, Jamaica, and other Caribbean islands. This was the first move toward extending the defenses of the United States and at the same time laying the groundwork for a ferry system for the future transport of war materiel to Europe and Africa. On April 9, 1941 the Danish Ambassador (who had relocated to Washington after the Nazi take­over of Denmark in 1940) signed an agreement allowing the United States to build airfields and associated facilities, as well as placing personnel on the island of Greenland (Greenland had been a colony of Denmark since the early 18th century).

The Lend Lease Act

American public opinion was gradually changing from predominately isolationist to one of limited involvement, “as long as we don’t have to go to war.” On March 11, 1941 Congress passed the Lend Lease Act, which empowered the presi­dent “on behalf of any country whose defense the president deems vital to the defense of the United States, to sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government any defense article. . . not expressly prohibited.” This Act allowed the United States to legally provide war materiel to England, China, Russia, and to 35 other nations. Roosevelt had earlier announced that the United States, although not involved in the war, was to become the “arsenal of democracy.” The industrial capac­ity of the United States was about to be tapped, and a mighty force it would prove to be.