In his 1941 State of the Union address, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the case for continuing to provide material support to Britain in the fight against fascism in Europe. Arguing against isolationism, Roosevelt explained that in this support against the Axis powers, Americans would be protecting four universal rights: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
The principles of the “Four Freedoms” would eventually evolve into the United Nations Declaration of 1942 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948. Roosevelt’s widow, Eleanor Roosevelt, was instrumental in the passage of the UDHR.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressing Congress in 1941 (via Wikimedia Commons)