History of the United States II / Unit 12 USH2 1658 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Destroyers for Bases
Captions available
The idea
In nineteen forty Roosevelt gave Britain fifty destroyers in exchange for ninety-nine-year leases on British bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland, the National Archives records.
In practice
Churchill's plea after Britain lost eleven destroyers in ten days.
Where people slip
The anchor does not carry the deal. In that year's campaign, the National Archives adds, Roosevelt promised to keep America out of the war.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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