Make Your Own Declaration of War: Buy War Bonds
A soldier points at the viewer beside a facsimile of the 8 December 1941 joint resolution declaring war on the Imperial Government of Japan, with the signatures of Rayburn, Wallace and Roosevelt, above the line 'Buy war bonds'. The poster borrows the weight of the congressional declaration and signatures to turn bond buying into the reader's own act of war.
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Treasury Department, War Savings Staff (WSS 639), poster designed by the Victory Display Committee; printed by the Government Printing Office
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Event
- World War II
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- UNT Digital Library, University of North Texas Libraries (World War II Posters collection), ark:/67531/metadc139, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. federal work; federal imprint on poster)
UNT Libraries, UNT Digital Library, World War II Posters (metadc139). Rights basis: federal imprint/credit: 'U.S. Government Printing Office 1943', War Savings Staff number WSS 639 (U.S. Treasury).
Text on the object
MAKE YOUR OWN Declaration of War Seventy-seventh Congress of the United States of America; At the First Session Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and forty-one JOINT RESOLUTION Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same. Whereas the Imperial Government of Japan has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States. Sam Rayburn Speaker of the House of Representatives. H A Wallace Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate. Approved Dec. 8th 1941 4.10 p.m. E.S.T. Franklin D Roosevelt BUY WAR BONDS VICTORY DISPLAY COMMITTEE
Signatures are handwritten facsimiles; the printed names are given as read from the scan. Imprint at foot: 'U.S. Government Printing Office 1943 O-491546 WSS 639' (number partly legible).
