"Four Freedoms" by Franklin Roosevelt (1941): List 3

In January of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined the basic freedoms that, in his view, America represented. Almost a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR warned of the dangers from dictatorships and of the need for America to prepare to defend itself.

This list covers vocabulary in paragraphs 30-54 of the speech.
14 words 306 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. resolute
    firm in purpose or belief
    Secondly, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to full support of all those resolute people everywhere who are resisting aggression and are thereby keeping war away from our hemisphere.
  2. proposition
    a statement that affirms or denies and is true or false
    Third, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to the proposition that principles of morality and considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers.
  3. acquiesce
    agree or express agreement
    Third, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to the proposition that principles of morality and considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers.
  4. enduring
    unceasing
    We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom.
  5. patriotism
    love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
    The men in charge of the program represent the best in training, in ability, and in patriotism.
  6. innumerable
    too many to be counted
    We are working day and night to solve the innumerable problems and to catch up.
  7. implement
    a piece of equipment or a tool used for a specific purpose
    To change a whole nation from a basis of peacetime production of implements of peace to a basis of wartime production of implements of war is no small task.
  8. beget
    cause to happen, occur, or exist
    New circumstances are constantly begetting new needs for our safety.
  9. appropriation
    money set aside for a specific purpose, as by a legislature
    I shall ask this Congress for greatly increased new appropriations and authorizations to carry on what we have begun.
  10. sufficient
    of a quantity that can fulfill a need or requirement
    I also ask this Congress for authority and for funds sufficient to manufacture additional munitions and war supplies of many kinds, to be turned over to those nations which are now in actual war with aggressor nations.
  11. arsenal
    all the weapons and equipment that a country has
    Our most useful and immediate role is to act as an arsenal for them as well as for ourselves.
  12. counsel
    something that provides direction or advice
    Taking counsel of expert military and naval authorities, considering what is best for our own security, we are free to decide how much should be kept here and how much should be sent abroad to our friends who, by their determined and heroic resistance, are giving us time in which to make ready our own defense.
  13. abroad
    to or in a foreign country
    Taking counsel of expert military and naval authorities, considering what is best for our own security, we are free to decide how much should be kept here and how much should be sent abroad to our friends who, by their determined and heroic resistance, are giving us time in which to make ready our own defense.
  14. hostility
    violent action that is usually unprovoked
    For what we send abroad we shall be repaid, repaid within a reasonable time following the close of hostilities, repaid in similar materials, or at our option in other goods of many kinds which they can produce and which we need.
Created on Wed Jun 04 11:59:14 EDT 2025 (updated Wed Jun 04 12:21:14 EDT 2025)

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