Atlantic+Charter-2

The following is the journal of Frankin D. Roosevelt in 1941, about one year after the signing of the Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Roosevelt is 59. He is a caucasian born on January 30th 1882. He is currently the President of the United States of America.

Dear Journal,

We have been attacked! Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. It is now necessary that the United States become involved in this world-wide war ("Atlantic"). Today I have met with Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, regarding the Atlantic Charter. We met on the USS Augusta in the Argentia Bay just off the coast of Newfoundland. Our conference has gone down in history and shall forever be known as the Atlantic Conference ("USS Augusta"). The charter that we created today sets forth our goals in opposing the Axis Powers. We've agreed on war aims, pledged colletive security, disarmeament, self-determinatino, economic cooperation, and freedom of the seas (Danzer). The Atlantic Charter said the following: "First, [our] countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other; Second, [we] desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned; Third, [we] respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them; Fourth, [we] will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all States, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity; Fifth, [we] desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement and social security; Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, [we] hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the men in all the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want; Seventh, such a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance; Eighth, [we] believe that all of the nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons must come to the abandonment of the use of force. Since no future peace can be maintained if land, sea or air armaments continue to be employed by nations which threaten, or may threaten, aggression outside of their frontiers, [we] believe, pending the establishment of a wider and permanent system of general security, that the disarmament of such nations is essential. [We] will likewise aid and encourage all other practicable measures which will lighten for peace-loving peoples the crushing burden of armaments" (Rosenman 314). Hopefully this charter will strengthen the bond between the United States and Great Britain and prevent a major war by supplying peaceful substitutions.

Sincerely,

Franklin D. Roosevelt


 * Works Cited**

"The Atlantic Charter." __The Atlantic Charter (1941)__. 24 Oct. 2007 <[|http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/53.htm>.]

"Atlantic Charter." __USS Augusta__. 24 Oct. 2007 <[|http://www.internet-esq.com/ussaugusta/atlantic1.htm>.]

Danzer, Gerald, et al. __The Americans__. Evanston, Illinois: McDougal Littell Inc., 2003.

Rosenman, Samuel, ed. __Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt__//;// __vol.10 (1938-1950)__//.//