Atlantic Charter expressed the post- World War II (1939-1945) aims of the United States and the United Kingdom . President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill adopted the declaration in August 1941 during a conference aboard the USS Augusta off the coast of the Canadian island of Newfoundland . Churchill had hoped to convince Roosevelt of the need for U.S. intervention in the war, but Roosevelt still faced strong opposition at home to American involvement. Nonetheless, the two leaders produced a charter solidifying the Anglo-American alliance and outlining the goals following an Allied victory. The charter maintained some of the basic principles of President Woodrow Wilson ’s Fourteen Points , proposed near the end of World War I (1914-1918). The United States entered World War II after the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , on Dec. 7, 1941.
The Atlantic Charter was eventually supported by 26 countries and formed the basis of the Declaration of the United Nations in January 1942. The complete text of the charter is given in the table with this article.
