Editing Neutrality Acts of the 1930s

{{short description|U.S. laws enacted before World War II}}
{{For|other Neutrality Acts|Neutrality Act (disambiguation){{!}}Neutrality Act}}
{{use American English|date=August 2019}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{U.S. Congressional opposition to war}}

The '''Neutrality Acts''' were a series of acts passed by the [[US Congress]] in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1939 in response to the growing threats and wars that led to [[World War II]]. They were spurred by the growth in [[isolationism]] and [[United States non-interventionism|non-interventionism]] in the US following the [[United States in World War I|US joining World War I]], and they sought to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts.

The legacy of the Neutrality Acts is widely regarded as having been generally negative since they made no distinction between aggressor and victim, treating both equally as [[belligerents]], and limited the US government's ability to aid Britain and France against [[Nazi Germany]]. The Acts were largely repealed in 1941, in the face of the [[Lend-Lease Act]].

==Background==
The [[Nye Committee]] hearings between 1934 and 1936 and several best-selling books of the time, like [[H. C. Engelbrecht]]'s ''[[Merchants of death|The Merchants of Death]]'' (1934), supported the conviction of many Americans that the [[American entry into World War I|US entry into World War I]] had been orchestrated by bankers and the [[arms industry]] for profit reasons. That strengthened the position of isolationists and non-interventionists in the country.<ref>{{cite book |first=Arthur |last=Herman  |title=Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II |pages=6, 12, 79 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4000-6964-4}}</ref>

Powerful forces in the [[US Congress]] pushing for [[non-interventionism]] and strong Neutrality Acts were [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Senators [[William Edgar Borah]], [[Arthur H. Vandenberg]], [[Gerald P. Nye]], and [[Robert M. La Follette, Jr.]],<ref name=dd>{{citation | url = http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/mac_03/mac_03_00231.html | title = Neutrality Acts | first = David G | last = Delaney | publisher = Novel guide | access-date = June 5, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090211234409/http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/mac_03/mac_03_00231.html | archive-date = February 11, 2009 | url-status = dead }}.</ref> but Congressional support for non-interventionism was not limited to the Republican Party. The [[Ludlow Amendment]], requiring a public referendum before any declaration of war except in cases of defense against direct attack, was introduced several times without success between 1935 and 1940 by [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Representative [[Louis Ludlow]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Ludlow Amendment and Fortress Defense |pages=152–185 |first=Ernest C. Jr. |last=Bolt |title=Ballots before Bullets: The War Referendum Approach to Peace in America, 1914–1941 |year=1977 |publisher=University Press of Virginia |isbn=9780813906621 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ballotsbeforebul0000bolt/page/152 }}</ref>

Democratic President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and especially [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Cordell Hull]] were critical of the Neutrality Acts for fear that they would restrict the administration's options to support friendly nations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hull |first=Cordell |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcordell01hull |title=The memoirs of Cordell Hull |last2=Berding |first2=Andrew Henry Thomas |date=1948 |publisher=New York, Macmillan Co. |others=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=David M. |title=Freedom from fear: the American people in depression and war, 1929 - 1945 |last2=Woodward |first2=C. Vann |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-514403-1 |series=The Oxford history of the United States / C. Vann Woodward, general ed |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841-1913 |date=2003 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Pub |isbn=978-0-7425-2217-6 |editor-last=Rafferty |editor-first=Edward C. |series=American intellectual culture |location=Lanham, Md}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Roosevelt |first=Franklin D. (Franklin Delano) |url=https://archive.org/details/4926315.1938.001.umich.edu |title=The public papers and addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. [electronic resource] : with a special introduction and explanatory notes by President Roosevelt |last2=Rosenman |first2=Samuel Irving |last3=United States. President (1933-1945 : Roosevelt) |date=1941 |publisher=New York : Macmillan |others=University of Michigan}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.85890 |title=Franklin D. Roosevelt and American foreign policy, 1932-1945: with a new afterword |date=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-509732-0 |editor-last=Dallek |editor-first=Robert |location=New York |pages=109-112 |chapter=Chapter 4: “The Drift Toward War” |archive-url=}}</ref> Even though both the [[United States House of Representatives|House]] and [[United States Senate|Senate]] had large Democratic majorities throughout these years,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Composition of Congress by Party 1855-2017 |url=https://www.infoplease.com/us/government/legislative-branch/composition-of-congress-by-political-party-1855-2017 |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=www.infoplease.com |language=en}}</ref> there was enough support for the Neutrality Acts among Democrats (especially Southerners) to ensure their passage. Although congressional support was insufficient to override a presidential veto, Roosevelt felt he could not afford to snub the South and anger public opinion, especially while he was [[1936 United States presidential election|facing re-election in 1936]] and needed congressional co-operation on domestic issues. With considerable reluctance, Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Acts into law.<ref name = sd>{{cite web | url = https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/id/99849.htm | title = The Neutrality Acts, 1930s | date = January 30, 2008 | place = US | publisher = State Department | access-date = June 5, 2008}}.</ref>

==Neutrality Act of 1935==
Roosevelt's State Department had lobbied for embargo provisions that would allow the president to impose sanctions selectively.<ref name=":1" /> This was rejected by Congress.<ref name=":1" /> The 1935 act, passed by Congress on August 31, 1935,<ref>{{cite web |title=Milestones: 1921–1936{{snd}}Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/neutrality-acts#:~:text=On%20August%2031%2C%201935%2C%20Congress,apply%20for%20an%20export%20license. |website=history.state.gov |access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref><ref>Public Resolution 67, 74th Congress, {{USStat|49|1081}} of August 31, 1935</ref> imposed a general embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in a war.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623">{{cite book|author1=Frauke Lachenmann|author2=Rüdiger Wolfrum|title=The Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force: The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boWuDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|year=2017|publisher=Oxford UP|page=176|isbn=9780198784623}}</ref> It also declared that American citizens traveling on warring ships traveled at their own risk. The act was set to expire after six months. When Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1935, the State Department established an office to enforce the provisions of the Act. The Office of Arms and Munitions Control, renamed the Division of Controls in 1939 when the office was expanded, initially consisted of [[Joseph C. Green]] and [[Charles W. Yost]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Stansfield |url=https://archive.org/details/secrecydemocracy00turn |title=Secrecy and democracy : the CIA in transition |date=1985 |publisher=Boston : Houghton Mifflin |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-395-35573-2 |pages=23-24}}</ref>

Roosevelt invoked the act after [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War|Italy's invasion of Ethiopia]] in October 1935, preventing all arms and ammunition shipments to Italy and Ethiopia. He also declared a "moral embargo" against the belligerents, covering trade not falling under the Neutrality Act.<ref name="en">{{cite web|url=http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/E-N/Embargoes-and-Sanctions.html|title=Embargoes and Sanctions|last=Combs|first=Jerald A.|year=2002|website=Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy}}</ref>

==Neutrality Act of 1936==
The Neutrality Act of 1936,<ref>Public Resolution 74, 74th Congress, {{USStat|49|1152}} of February 29, 1936</ref> passed in February of that year, renewed the provisions of the 1935 act for another 14 months. It also forbade all loans or credits to belligerents.

However, this act did not cover "civil wars", such as [[Spanish Civil War|that in Spain (1936–1939)]], nor did it cover materials used in civilian life such as trucks and oil. U.S. companies such as [[Texaco]], [[Standard Oil]], [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], [[General Motors]], and [[Studebaker]] sold such items to the Nationalists under  [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]] on credit. By 1939, Spain owed these and other companies more than $100,000,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=James M. |title=The Spanish Civil War: A History and Reference Guide |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-32274-7|year=2003 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}

==Neutrality Act of 1937==
In January 1937, Congress passed a [[joint resolution]] outlawing the arms trade with Spain. The Neutrality Act of 1937<ref>Public Resolution 27, 75th Congress, {{USStat|50|121}} of May 1, 1937</ref> was passed in May and included the provisions of the earlier acts, this time without expiration date, and extended them to cover civil wars as well.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=David M. |title=Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-503834-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomfromfeara00kenn }}</ref>  Furthermore, U.S. ships were prohibited from transporting any passengers or articles to belligerents, and U.S. citizens were forbidden from traveling on ships of belligerent nations.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623"/>
In a concession to Roosevelt, a "[[Cash and carry (World War II)|cash-and-carry]]" provision that had been devised by his advisor [[Bernard Baruch]] was added:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Divine |first=Robert A. |url=https://archive.org/details/reluctantbellige00divi |title=The reluctant belligerent : American entry into World War II |date=1965 |publisher=New York (etc) : Wiley |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-471-21624-7 |pages=18-22}}</ref> the president could permit the sale of materials and supplies to belligerents in Europe as long as the recipients arranged for the transport and paid immediately with cash, with the argument that this would not draw the U.S. into the conflict. Roosevelt believed that cash-and-carry would aid France and Great Britain in the event of a war with Germany, since they were the only countries that controlled the seas and were able to take advantage of the provision.<ref name=sd/> The cash-and-carry clause was set to expire after two years.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623"/>

[[Empire of Japan|Japan]] invaded [[Republic of China (1912–49)|China]] in July 1937, starting the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. President Roosevelt, who supported the Chinese side, chose not to invoke the Neutrality Acts since the parties had not formally declared war. In so doing, he ensured that China's efforts to defend itself would not be hindered by the legislation: China was dependent on arms imports and only Japan would have been able to take advantage of cash-and-carry. This outraged the isolationists in Congress who claimed that the spirit of the law was being undermined. Roosevelt stated that he would prohibit American ships from transporting arms to the belligerents, but he allowed British ships to transport American arms to China.<ref>{{Citation | first= Ronald E | last = Powaski | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDAoVZqHwocC&pg=PA72 | title = Toward an Entangling Alliance: American Isolationism, Internationalism, and Europe, 1901–1950 | place = Westport | publisher = Greenwood | year = 1991 | page = 72| isbn = 9780313272745 }}.</ref>  Roosevelt gave his [[Quarantine Speech]] in October 1937, outlining a move away from neutrality and toward "quarantining" all aggressors.  He then imposed a "moral embargo" on exports of aircraft to Japan.<ref name=en/>

==Neutrality Act of 1939==
Early in 1939, after [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|Nazi Germany had invaded Czechoslovakia]], Roosevelt lobbied Congress to have the cash-and-carry provision renewed. He was rebuffed, the provision lapsed, and the mandatory arms embargo remained in place.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623"/>

[[File:Treasures of Congress - Postcard against amending the Neutrality Act I.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Postcard sent to a Congressman opposing the Neutrality Act of 1939]]
In September 1939, after [[Invasion of Poland|Germany had invaded Poland]], the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. Roosevelt invoked the provisions of the Neutrality Act but came before Congress and lamented that the Neutrality Acts may give passive aid to an aggressor country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-urges-repeal-of-neutrality-act-embargo-provisions |title=September 21, 1939: FDR urges repeal of Neutrality Act embargo provisions |publisher=History.com |access-date=February 4, 2011}}</ref> Congress was divided. Republican Senator [[Gerald Nye]] wanted to broaden the embargo, and other isolationists like Vandenberg and [[Hiram Johnson]] vowed to fight "from hell to breakfast" Roosevelt's desire to loosen the embargo. An "outstanding Republican leader" who supported helping nations under attack, however, told [[H. V. Kaltenborn]] that the embargo was futile because a neutral country like Italy could buy from the US and sell its own weapons to Germany, while US companies would relocate factories to Canada.<ref name="kaltenborn19390922">{{Cite AV media |url=https://archive.org/details/1939RadioNews/1939-09-22-CBS-H-V-Kaltenborn-Commentary.mp3 |title=CBS H. V. Kaltenborn Commentary |date=1939-09-22 |last=Kaltenborn |first=H. V. |type=Radio }}</ref>

Roosevelt prevailed over the isolationists, and on November 4, he signed the Neutrality Act of 1939 into law,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=David M. |title=Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195144031 |page=433}}</ref><ref>Public Resolution 54, 76th Congress, {{USStat|54|4}} of November 4, 1939</ref><ref>[https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/77th-congress/session-1/c77s1ch473.pdf Joint Resolution To Repeal Sections 2, 3, and 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939, and for Other Purposes, 17 November 1941]</ref> allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations (Great Britain and France) on a [[Cash and carry (World War II)|cash-and-carry]] basis, thus in effect ending the arms embargo. Furthermore, the Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1937 were repealed, American citizens and ships were barred from entering war zones designated by the president, and the National Munitions Control Board (which had been created by the 1935 Neutrality Act) was charged with issuing licenses for all arms imports and exports. Arms trade without a license became a federal crime.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Douglas |last1=Brinkley |first2=David |last2=Rubel |title=World War II: The Axis Assault, 1939–1942 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LnoQgC4GKQC&pg=PA99 |year= 2003 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=99–106|isbn=9780805072464 }}</ref>

==End of neutrality policy==
The end of neutrality policy came in September 1940 with the [[Destroyers-for-bases deal]], an agreement to transfer 50 [[United States Navy|US Navy]] destroyers to the [[Royal Navy]] in exchange for land rights on [[British possessions]]. This was followed by the [[Lend-Lease program|Lend-Lease Act]] of March 1941, which allowed the U.S. to sell, lend or give war materials to nations Roosevelt wanted to support: Britain, France, and China.<ref>[[Warren F. Kimball]], ''The Most Unsordid Act: Lend-Lease, 1939–1941'' (Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, 1969) ch 1.</ref>

After repeated incidents in the Atlantic between [[U-boat|German submarines]] and U.S. ships, Roosevelt announced on September 11, 1941, that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to attack German and Italian war vessels in the "waters which we deem necessary for our defense". This order effectively declared naval war on Germany and Italy.<ref>Burns, James MacGregor (1970). ''Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom''. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. hdl:2027/heb.00626. {{ISBN|978-0-15-678870-0}}. pp. 141–142</ref> Following the sinking of the U.S. destroyer {{USS|Reuben James|DD-245|2}} while she dropped depth charges on German U-boats on October 31, many of the provisions of the Neutrality Acts were repealed on November 17, 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/daybyday/event/november-1941-4/ |title=November, 1941 – FDR: Day by Day |website=FDR: Day by Day |publisher=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum]] |language=en-US |access-date=2018-08-29 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> As a result, merchant vessels were allowed to be armed and to carry any cargoes to belligerent nations.

On December 4, 1941, the US press published [[Rainbow Five]], a leaked plan outlining US war strategy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/02/Historian-FDR-probably-engineered-famous-WWII-plans-leak/4189565419600/|title=Historian: FDR probably engineered famous WWII plans leak}}</ref> The U.S. formally declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, following the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] and the [[Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire|Japanese declaration of war]] of the previous day; [[German declaration of war against the United States|Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.]] on December 11, 1941, and the [[United States declaration of war on Germany (1941)|U.S. responded with a declaration of war]] on the same day.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/12/12/issue.html|title=War Opened on US|last=Kluckhorn|first=Frank|date=December 12, 1941|work=New York Times|access-date=September 12, 2019}}</ref>

==Subsequent application==
The provision against unlicensed arms trades of the 1939 act remains in force.<ref>{{USC|22|441}} (notes)</ref>

In 1948, [[Charles Winters]], [[Al Schwimmer]], and [[Hank Greenspun|Herman Greenspun]] were convicted under the 1939 Act after smuggling [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers from Florida to the nascent state of [[Israel]] during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/washington/24pardons.html |title=Jailed for Aiding Israel, but Pardoned by Bush |last=Lichtblau |first=Eric |date=24 December 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A1 |access-date=28 January 2010}}</ref> Winters was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $5,000, while Schwimmer and Greenspun were each fined $10,000. Schwimmer was also stripped of his voting rights and veteran benefits.<ref name=":0" />

All three received [[presidential pardon]]s in subsequent decades. Greenspun was pardoned by [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1961, Schwimmer was pardoned by [[Bill Clinton]] in 2001, and Winters was pardoned by [[George W. Bush]] in 2008.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/12/23/1001785/pardon-granted-to-man-who-flew-planes-to-israel |title=Pardon granted to man who flew planes to Israel |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=December 23, 2008 |access-date=December 23, 2008}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Chambers, John Whiteclay. "The Movies and the Antiwar Debate in America, 1930–1941." ''Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies'' 36.1 (2006): 44–57.
* Cortright, David. ''Peace: A history of movements and ideas'' (Cambridge UP,  2008), global coverage.
* {{citation|last=Divine|first=Robert A.|title=The Illusion of Neutrality|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1962|oclc=186301491}}
* Fischer, Klaus P. ''Hitler and America'' (U of Pennsylvania Press, 2011).
* {{citation|last=Garner|first=James W.|title=Recent American Neutrality Legislation|journal=International Affairs|year=1937|volume=16|number=6|pages=853–869|doi=10.2307/2602764 |jstor=2602764}}
* Jonas, Manfred. ''Isolationism in America, 1935–1941'' (Cornell UP,  1966).
* Reynolds, David. "The United States and European security from Wilson to Kennedy, 1913–1963: A reappraisal of the 'Isolationist' tradition." ''RUSI Journal'' 128.2 (1983): 16–24.
* Rofe, J. Simon, and John M. Thompson. "‘Internationalists in Isolationist times’–Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and a Rooseveltian Maxim." ''Journal of Transatlantic Studies'' 9.1 (2011): 46–62.

==External links==
{{commons category|Neutrality Acts of the 1930s}}
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/neutralityact.htm Neutrality Act of August 31, 1935]
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/neutrality2.htm Neutrality Act of February 29, 1936]
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/neutrality3.htm Neutrality Act of May 1, 1937]
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/neutrality.htm Neutrality Act of November 4, 1939]

[[Category:1937 in American politics]]
[[Category:1937 in American law]]
[[Category:United States foreign relations legislation]]
[[Category:History of United States isolationism]]
[[Category:Legal history of the United States]]
[[Category:1937 in international relations]]
[[Category:1935 in American politics]]
[[Category:1939 in American politics]]
[[Category:1930s in the United States]]
[[Category:Neutrality (international relations)]]