American
History
THE FOUR FREEDOMS
delivered by Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, on January 6, 1941
Mr. Speaker, members of the
77th Congress :
I address you, the members
of this new Congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the union.
I use the word "unprecedented" because at no previous time has American security
been as seriously threatened from without as it is today. Since the permanent
formation of our government under the Constitution in 1789, most of the periods
of crisis in our history have related to our domestic affairs. And, fortunately,
only one of these --the four-year war between the States --ever threatened
our national unity. Today, thank God,
130,000,000 Americans in forty-eight States have forgotten points of the compass
in our national unity.
Unfortunately, many minds seem
to drift away during this point of the speech. There are a lot of words to
read or even listen to. During the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, there
were no televisions. Many Americans tuned their radios in for his fireside
chats to catch up on the news. In many instances, the average American did
not fully understand the speech or even care what it was about. They just
liked listening to him because he was the President. He spoke of the issues
of freedom that 20th century Americans need not worry about. By growing up
in a priviledge democracy, the public did not realize the seriousness of the
war. All they knew was the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor (Hawaii was not
yet a state).
On this night, Norman Rockwell
listened intently to every word President Roosevelt said in this radio address.
The speech effected him so deeply that Rockwell could not sleep. He awoke
in the middle of the night to begin a series of paintings entitled "The
Four Freedoms".
By painting (or illustrating)
the words of Roosevelt, the average American would clearly understand the
State of the Union. The United States of America had to enter the fight against
Hitler and the Third Reich. These paintings would show everyone what exactly
we, as Americans, were fighting for.
World War II would become one
of the greatest and most devastating lessons of humanity.