The freedom of the seas is in Your hands! Don't slow up the ship!
The Statue of Liberty rises over a destroyer, a freighter and aircraft, beside the headline 'The freedom of the seas is in Your hands!' and the line 'Don't slow up the ship!' with 'give' struck through and replaced by 'slow'. The tell is the statue lending national symbolism to a request for shipyard and dock output.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy, Industrial Incentive Division, Navy Department; artist Jon Whitcomb; printer Lutz & Sheinkman, New York
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Labor, War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Navy, Industrial Incentive Division. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-838 (NAID 514332).
Text on the object
The freedom of the seas is in Your hands! DON'T GIVE [struck through] Slow UP THE SHIP! [signature:] Jon Whitcomb [imprint:] LUTZ & SHEINKMAN, NEW YORK OFFICIAL NAVY POSTER INDUSTRIAL INCENTIVE DIVISION, NAVY DEPARTMENT 5-13-11M
