American Isolationism

As war clouds gathered over Asia and Europe during the 1930s, disillusioned Americans were determined not to be drawn into another world war. The root causes of this isolationism were many. Well known historians, including Charles A. Beard, absolved Germany of total responsibility for the Great War, and emphasized that the reparations burden had led to the failure of the Weimar Republic. Recalling the end of the Progressive movement and the Espionage and Sedition Acts, social reformers feared that another world war would end the New Deal and trample on civil liberties. Some well known public figures, including Charles Lindbergh and Senators William Borah and George Norris, swelled the chorus that condemned America's participation in the Great War.

The most effective argument raised by the isolationists—although not necessarily the most valid one—was that America's entry into the World War was dictated by munitions makers and arms dealers who profited from the conflict. American bankers, who had loaned billions to the Allies and wanted to protect their investments, were also singled out. The March 1934 issue of Fortune, an influential business magazine, contained an article titled "Arms and the Men," that blamed the armaments industry for encouraging and then prolonging the Great War. This thesis was popularized in a Book-of-the-Month Club selection written by Helmuth Englebrecht and Frank Hanighen, The Merchants of Death, published that same year.

In response to such charges, Senator Gerald Nye, a progressive Republican from North Dakota, chaired a committee that investigated America's entry into the World War. The Nye Committee's hearings attracted immense public attention, as J. P. Morgan and several du Ponts were among those called to testify. The Committee concluded that economic interests played a major role in American military intervention on the side of the Allies in 1917. Senator Nye minced no words when he claimed that the United States joined the fight "to save the skins of American bankers who... had two billions of dollars of loans to the Allies in jeopardy."

The Nye Committee's findings, coupled with the Japanese and Italian military incursions, led to the passage of the Neutrality Acts. Congress clearly hoped to prevent the United States from being dragged unwillingly into another worldwide conflict. The first Neutrality bill passed Congress with little debate in August 1935. It prohibited any arms and munitions trade with warring nations and authorized the president to ban Americans from travel on belligerent vessels. Obviously, Congress hoped to shackle the "merchants of death" and prevent another Lusitaniaincident. President Roosevelt, however, warned that an impartial arms embargo favored an aggressor and might "drag us into war instead of keeping us out." Overwhelming public opinion and an implacable Congress, however, forced the president to sign the bill into law.

In early 1936, the Second Neutrality Act added an additional sanction to the first law, prohibiting loans to belligerents. Both Neutrality Acts were due to expire on May 1, 1937, but Congress extended them on that day. By that time, the Spanish Civil War was raging, and a Third Neutrality Act kept the basic provisions of the previous laws and added that the president could impose the restrictions in cases of "civil strife." Significantly, the new law also allowed the sale of non-military goods to belligerents on a "cash-and-carry" basis; that is, warring factions had to pay for the goods in full and transport them on their own ships. Most of the law's provisions were made permanent, but the Cash-and-carry proviso was due to expire in two years.

With Europe on the brink of war in the spring of 1939, the Roosevelt administration pushed Congress to repeal the Neutrality Act. Isolationists, however, refused to budge, and Congress adjourned without acting on the president's request. Three weeks after German troops moved into Poland and the Second World War commenced in earnest, Roosevelt called Congress into special session and requested the repeal of the arms embargo. He also asked Congress to allow belligerents to purchase arms and munitions on a cash-and-carry basis.

After six weeks of bitter debate, the Fourth Neutrality law was passed over Republican protests. Roosevelt got what he wanted, but the isolationists carried a few points. American citizens were forbidden to sail on belligerent vessels, and U. S. ships were blocked from belligerent ports and (in certain cases) from combat zones. By 1939, Congress was prepared to tilt toward those nations that controlled the high seas—especially Great Britain—but the final Neutrality Act was of no benefit to China and many other nations fighting the Axis Powers of Japan, Germany, and Italy. It remained to be seen if isolationism and neutrality would keep the United States out of World War Two.

For more information visit the U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian