>> One of the primary impetuses for the law was the situation that occurred during World War I when the belligerent countries withdrew their merchant fleets fro

>> One of the primary impetuses for the law was the situation that occurred during World War I when the belligerent countries withdrew their merchant fleets from commercial service to aid in the war effort. This left the US with insufficient vessels to conduct normal trade impacting the economy. Later when the U.S. joined the war there were insufficient vessels to transport war supplies, materials, and ultimately soldiers to Europe resulting in the creation of the United States Shipping Board. The U.S. engaged in a massive ship building effort including building concrete ships to make up for the lack of U.S. tonnage. The Jones Act was passed in order to prevent the U.S. from having insufficient maritime capacity in future wars. [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920#National_security https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920#Na...