1941.03.12 “Partly Repealed Already”
by Silvey Jackson (SJ) Ray (1891-1970)
12 x 16 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection
https://kchistory.org/blog/history-cartoons-artwork-s-j-ray
S.J. Ray was a student at the Art Students League of New York and was a World War I veteran. He joined the Kansas City Star in 1915 as an advertising illustrator and became the Star’s editorial cartoonist in 1931. He served in that post until retirement in 1963, drawing an estimated 10,000 cartoons. He received honors from the U.S. Treasury Dept. for his cartoons during World War II in behalf of the National War Savings Program.
The Neutrality Acts were a series of laws passed by the US Congress in the 1930s to limit involvement in future wars. Driven by isolationist, and derived from the experiences of WW1, the acts restricted arms sales and loans to warring nations.
In a 1937 revision, a "cash-and-carry" provision was added, allowing nations at war to purchase non-military goods from the US if they paid immediately and transported the goods on their own ships. This was seen as a way to aid Britain and France.
Within a few years, the extent of Nazi aggression was an obvious concern, yet the prevailing sentiment in the US was still to stay out of the European conflict. On March 11, 1941, FDR signed the Lend-Lease Act into law. Titled "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States," it allowed the US to provide military and other assistance to Allied nations, particularly Great Britain, whose defense was deemed crucial to American security. The program authorized the US to lend or lease war materials, such as weapons, ammunition, tanks, and other supplies, to these nations with the understanding that they would be returned or paid for after the war.
The Lend-Lease Act was a significant turning point in American foreign policy, marking a shift away from strict neutrality and towards a more active role in the war against the Axis powers.
