The act was put in place with hopes to put economic pressure on Japan to interfere with military expansion.
The united states responded to Japanese aggression in the pacific with the 1940 American neutrality act to apply economic pressure to Japan to discourage military expansion.
The Neutrality Acts were a continuous series of acts passed by the US Congress in the years 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1939 in response to the growing wars and threats that led to World War II.
They were encouraged by the growth in non-interventionism and isolationism in the US following the US joining WW I, and they sought to ensure that the US wouldn't become entangled again in the foreign conflicts.
The legacy of the Neutrality Acts is widely regarded as having generally been negative since they made no distinction between victim and aggressor, treated both equally as belligerents, and limited the US government's ability to aid Britain and France against Nazi Germany.
Expansionism refers to states gaining greater territory via military empire-building or colonialism.
To know more about American neutrality act here:
https://brainly.com/question/13905712
#SPJ3
