On January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his Four Freedoms Message to Congress. In the address, Roosevelt made the case for American aid to Great Britain, which was battling for survival against Nazi Germany. He equated the Lend-Lease bill–which would allow Britain to borrow war materials from the United States with the understanding that they would be returned (or replaced with other goods) after the war–with preserving “four essential human freedoms” that were universal to humankind.

Roosevelt’s speech–delivered as his annual address to Congress–marked an important shift in America’s attitude toward the war in Europe, moving the nation dramatically closer to direct involvement in the conflict. His Four Freedoms also became symbols of America’s purpose and goals once Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor drew the nation into combat. Roosevelt presented the war as a moral battle between supporters of universal human rights and the powers of despotism and slavery. The Four Freedoms he highlighted–freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear–forced Americans to reevaluate the very concept of freedom in a democratic society. Captured in Norman Rockwell’s paintings, which spoke to millions during the 1940s, the Four Freedoms had far-reaching, international influence; they are enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.