Facing severe shortages in the fight against Nazi Germany, Great Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealed to President Franklin Roosevelt to find a way for the United States to continue to aid Britain. Introduced with the patrioric bill number "1776" on January 10, 1941, Congress passed this act following two months of debate and it was signed by President Roosevelt on March 11, 1941. The "Lend-Lease" act met Great Britain’s deep need for supplies yet allowed the United States to prepare for war while remaining officially neutral.

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Today’s Document from the National Archives