The 1930s were a very difficult time for most of America. The great depression could still be felt across the country and most Americans first priority was fixing the dreadful situation at home. The United States was becoming insensitive to what was happening to other democracies around the world. After World War 1 many Americans developed a strong sense of isolationism because they felt that we were tricked into the war and did not gain much compared to the amount of lives we lost. Isolationist also believed that America would not be affected by the war in Europe as long as we didn't get involved in any way. It wasn't until 1937 when President Roosevelt gave his famous "Quarantine the Aggressors" speech that finally started to get Americans to open their eyes and admit that if we did not help our allies in Europe then we would be next. .
Even though most Americans have started to realize that it will be impossible to stay completely isolated from the events taking place is Europe, the vast majority still condemned the thought of going to war. When the neutrality act of 1937 was passed, it allowed for warring and war prone countries to buy anything other than war materials as long as they pay in cash and use their own ships to transport the goods. That same year President Roosevelt proposed to increase the size of the navy through appropriation of public funds. Roosevelt said we needed "A navy second to none" as a "Contribution to world peace".These two events were key in propelling the United States out of the great depression. Between 1939 and 1941 our manufacturing output went up 54 percent and corporate profit almost doubled, helping the economy get back on track.
nThe New York Times ran an advertisement on June 10th, 1940 stating that if the British and French fall then the United states would be alone in a barbaric world ruled by Nazis and Fascist.