![]() These freedoms-of speech and worship, and from want and fear-gave those who went to war a clear purpose. Roosevelt saw these freedoms as obtainable in the lifetime of those who, 11 months later, began the march to war. The fourth freedom was the freedom from fear, which President Roosevelt believed would come with a reduction of armaments worldwide. Roosevelt explained this freedom as encompassing the economic stability to ensure “to every nation a healthy peacetime” once the turmoil of war came to an end. The second he listed was the freedom to worship in one’s own way. Looking ahead to the war’s end, Roosevelt described a world that he saw as “founded upon four essential human freedoms.” The first of the four freedoms was the freedom of speech. He did so to emphasize the urgent need to prepare for war, as well as to continue supporting American allies with arms and munitions. By describing the grave threat facing democratic societies around the world, he gave voice to the fears that permeated daily life in the months before America’s eventual entrance into the war. As captured by this speech, World War II was not simply a war to defeat dictators, but it was a war to preserve the fundamental freedoms that defined life in a free, democratic society.Īlthough delivered well before the United States joined the other Allied Powers to fight in World War II, Roosevelt’s speech remained closely intertwined with the history and legacy of the war. After the United States formally entered the war in December 1941, these “Four Freedoms” became a driving message behind the need to stop the Axis powers. ![]() ![]() Delivered during the State of the Union on January 6, 1941, Roosevelt took a stance against the calls for isolationism prevalent at that time and issued a call to action to defend global democracy, stating that the United States had a responsibility to fight for four universal freedoms people the world over ought to enjoy. Eleven months before the Japanese Empire launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) gave a speech that came to symbolize the broader meaning behind America’s effort to defeat fascism abroad. ![]()
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