Read the following text discussing legislation passed in 1937 and answer the question below. Nations at war were allowed to purchase any Items except weapons from the United States as long as they paid in full for the items and carried them on non-American the "cash and carry"clause. What was the purpose of this clause? to increase support for arms control to bypass tariffs that Increased prices to protect the neutrality of the United States to allow the United States equal access to trade

## Step 1<br />The problem presents a text discussing a legislation passed in 1937, known as the "cash and carry" clause. This clause allowed nations at war to purchase items from the United States, but only if they paid in full and carried the items on non-American ships.<br /><br />## Step 2<br />The question asks us to identify the purpose of this clause. The options provided are:<br />A. to increase support for arms control<br />B. to bypass tariffs that increased prices<br />C. to protect the neutrality of the United States<br />D. to allow the United States equal access to trade<br /><br />## Step 3<br />By analyzing the text, we can see that the clause allowed nations at war to purchase items from the United States, but only if they paid in full and carried the items on non-American ships. This suggests that the clause was designed to protect the neutrality of the United States, as it did not allow the United States to be directly involved in the war by providing weapons to the nations at war.