On This Day in Tech History

On September 21, 1939, the U.S. Congress passed the Neutrality Acts, a series of laws aimed at keeping the United States out of the growing conflict in Europe that would become World War II. The acts prohibited the sale or shipment of arms to belligerent nations and established a "cash and carry" policy for non-military goods, meaning that warring countries could purchase U.S. goods as long as they paid in cash and transported them using their own ships. The Neutrality Acts reflected the American public's desire to avoid another devastating war but ultimately proved ineffective in preventing the country's entry into World War II.