Japanese Internment

Race tracks and fairgrounds are a few examples of makeshift temporary camps in Phase 1 (Estes). During Phase 1 permanent camps were being built for Phase 2 of the Japanese Internment. Phase 2 camps were surrounded by barbed wire fences and evacuees lived in barracks. Each block of barracks only had one set of bathrooms, one laundry room, one ironing room, a cafeteria, and a recreation facility (Estes). Also Phase 2 camps tried to make life more normal for Japanese Americans by providing stores, hospitals, and self government to the evacuees (Relocation of Japanese Americans). Stores were the only way to get goods not given to you or that an evacuee brought. Also they were one of the only forms of employment for the Japanese Americans. Also any additional money had to have come from selling their belongings before coming on the trip. Remember that they had to sell their property and belongings for way below their actual value. All jobs paid similar low wages which led to issues for the Japanese Americans. Many of these issues destroyed their Japanese culture (McGrath). One issue was that children were earning as much money as their parents. This led to parents losing control of their children and destroying father son relationships. Another issue was that families no longer shared meal time together as children chose to eat with their friends. This was one of many Japanese traditions that vanished during their time in internment camps. Also

After a few months stay in an assembly center, most of the Japanese Americans were moved to the relocation centers located on gloomy barracks mainly in abandoned areas of the West. (Nextext 37) The assembly centers and relocation centers were built and ran by the War Relocation Authority. Pomona Assembly Center was 1 of 18 centers in California and it was the fifth largest with an average population of 4,755 and on June 20, 1942 held a maximum capacity of 5,434 internees. The internees complained that there was lack of a variety of food, the lines to get food were too long, there was a lack of ventilation and the restrooms were located inconveniently. (Feeley 222) Living a closed life led to an intensification of social life; lovemaking, dancing, and singing were uncontrollable activities. The families and internees were held in Pomona from May 7, 1942 to August 24, 1942 for a total of a 110-day stay. By August 24, 1942 5,260 internees were transferred to Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming. (Feeley 219) (Nextext 144) Most Japanese Americans cooperated with the War Relocation Authority and military officials rather than resisting removal from the West Coast. (Hayashi 2) In 1943 during the Loyalty Registration, Japanese Americans were questioned regarding which country they would support; five out of every six Japanese Americans promised their obedience to the United States

Was the Japanese American internment right to create? In some people’s opinion they agreed that the internment camps were justified. “On February 14, 1942, I recommended to the War Department that the military security of the Pacific Coast required the establishment of broad civil control, anti-sabotage and counter-espionage measures, including the evacuation, there from of all persons of Japanese ancestry” (Dewitt 1). Some people may have thought it was the wrong choice, but at the time the president did what had to be done. These camps in a way helped the U.S. The internment for Japanese Americans,during World War 2, is either justified or unjustified.They may have taken the Japanese American’s Farms, businesses and homes, but they did for the reasons of segregating them from their ancestry. To keep the U.S. safe. Also to show that being a citizen of America was hard. If the internment camps were justified then, they were made to keep the U.S. safe, segregate Japanese Americans from Japanese ancestry, and being an American citizen was hard work.

Japanese internment camps from 1942 to 1946 were an exemplification of discrimination, many Japanese Americans were no longer accepted in their communities after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were perceived as traitors and faced humiliation due to anti-Japanese sentiment causing them to be forced to endure several hardships such as leaving behind their properties to go an imprisoned state, facing inadequate housing conditions, and encountering destitute institutions. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 (Why I Love a Country that Once Betrayed Me). This led president Roosevelt to sign the executive order 9066, which authorized the army to remove any individual that seemed as a potential threat to the nation (“Executive Order 9066”) This order allowed the military to exclude “‘any or all persons from designated areas, including the California coast.”’ (Fremon 31). Many Japanese opposed to leave the Pacific Coast on their own free will (Fremon 24) . Japanese Americans would not be accepted in other areas if they moved either.Idaho’s governor stated, Japanese would be welcomed “only if they were in concentration camps under guard”(Fremon 35). The camps were located in Arizona, Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and California where thousands of Japanese Americans eventually relocated. (“Japanese Americans at Manzanar”) The internment lasted for 3 years and the last camp did not close until 1946. (Lessons Learned: Japanese Internment During WW2)

The Second World War was an international event which drastically impacted the world as a whole. With the war came a new found sense of mistrust throughout society. American and Canadian communities were divided due to the fear of espionage and sabotage, forms of spying which could help aid the enemy in war. This division promoted distrust, discrimination and violence toward Japanese immigrants and their children. To offset these fears resulting from war, Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadian citizens were forced into internment camps, resulting in a heightened sense of tension upon arrival home and finally the compensations of both US and Canadian governments

Shortly after the first bombs were dropped on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, the American people’s fear of the Japanese grew dramatically, especially for those Japanese living in America. Almost every Japanese American was seen as a threat to the country. On February 19th, 1942, Executive Order 9066 was issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, authorizing the relocation of Japanese Americans to camps further inland. Over 175,000 Japanese Americans were affected in some way by the order, even though more than 70,000 of them were born in the United States and were American citizens. The common perspective of the American people was shown through their use of the expression “A Jap’s a Jap,” virtually destroying the thought that any

After the attack on the Pearl Harbor in 1941, a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy air service, United States was thrilled and it provoked World War II. Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President FDR ordered all Japanese-Americans regardless of their loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted over 127,000 people of Japanese descent relocate across the country in the Japanese Internment camps. Many of them were American Citizens but their crime was being of Japanese ancestry. They were forced to evacuate their homes and leave their jobs and in some cases family members were separated and put into different internment camps. There were ten internment camps were placed in “California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas”(History.com). However, until the camps were fully build, the Japanese people were held in temporary centers. In addition, almost two-thirds of the interns were Japanese Americans born in the United States and It made no difference that many of them had never even been to Japan. Also, Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave their homes and relocate in the internment camps. Japanese families in internment camps dined together, children were expected to attend school, and adults had the option of working for earning $5 per day. The United States government hoped that the internment camps could make it self-sufficient by farming to produce food.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, many people were dubious towards many Japanese-Americans and believed they were working with Japan. With this, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, moving several Japanese-Americans into concentration camps, calling it a “military necessity” (Ewers 1). When this happened, many Japanese-Americans lost everything they had owned such as houses, farms, and their rights as American citizens.

On February 19th 1942, Roosevelt signed the executive order 9066. Under the terms of the order, people of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps. The United States’ justification for this abominable action was that the Japanese American’s may spy for their Homeland. Over 62% of the Japanese that were held in these camps were American Citizens. The United States’ internment of the Japanese was a poor and cowardly method of ‘keeping the peace.’ The United States was not justified in stowing away Japanese Americans into almost concentration camps. This act goes against the basic Bill Of Rights granted to all American citizens, the Fifth Amendment's command that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due

Following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, racial tensions increased in the United States, especially on the West Coast (Divine 898). The anti-Japanese sentiment led to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which gave military officials the power to limit the civil rights of Japanese Americans (Danzer 802). The order also authorized the forced relocation of all Japanese Americans to concentration camps (Divine 898). These camps were located in desolate deserts and flatlands in the interior of the United States (Sato 67). Two thirds of the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forced to relocate were “Nisei”, or native born American citizens (Divine 898).

“On February 19th, 1942 President Roosevelt signed into effect Executive Order 9066: an authorization for military authorities to exclude any and all persons from designated areas of the country as necessary for national defense (Jones, Par. 11).” This was the first strike in a round of racial exclusion that violated the Japanese's rights, abolished their faith in the American government, and interned them in a camp for up to four years. The Japanese internment camps were unethical and completely barbaric because they violated the Japanese's rights as individuals and as citizens of the United States, it was a violation of the justice system as well, they had no evidence to prove any of the Japanese were plotting against the United States,

Japanese-Americans were forced to evacuate from coastal areas following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A massive amount of Americans who were not of Japanese descent believed that the Japanese community could not be trusted, so the government felt that it was necessary to remove them from their homes and place them in camps located away from militarized coastal regions. This was a controversial decision at the time and still receives criticism today for going against typical American constitutional values centering around citizen’s unalienable rights. Through the research of many letters written during Japanese internment or reflecting on the event, it seems that Japanese-Americans of that time period had mixed feelings about being relocated and the majority of the community was upset that they were viewed and treated differently than other Americans but did acknowledge that the overall treatment they received at camp was fair. Japanese Internment camps were psychologically damaging to Japanese-Americans due to the racist nature of selective forced evacuation, and the Japanese community was more upset about being removed from their homes than how they were treated at camp.

Imagine being a part of a minority that was blamed for the disaster that was out of their control, and as a result were forced to leave behind everything. This was a nightmare that became a reality for the Japanese when President Franklin Roosevelt passed the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which allowed the government authorized the internment of tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident aliens from Japan. Over 120,000 innocent citizens of California, Arizona, and Oregon faced unjust and unconstitutional treatments by their own government, who was supposed to protect citizen’s rights but made the Japanese feel the complete opposite. The internment camps impacted the Japanese-American citizens tremendously in the areas of finances, social status, and physiological well-being.

Some of the Japanese had come down to America to give their children a better life and so they don’t have to be limited to the to just the low or mid-class although when they go to the states they were discriminated against because they were from Japan and because they didn’t follow the same culture as all the other Americans. Even though they should’ve had their human rights those rights were completely revoked from them after the Pearl Harbor bombing, in which president Roosevelt initiated Executive Order 9066 in which all Japanese, including Japanese Americans get sent to internment just because they had Japanese heritage. They stayed in these internment camps for three and one half years living in poor conditions where they had to build their own huts all due to the fact that the president had feared what they could do for revenge

All across the West, relocation notices were posted on April 30, 1942. All people of Japanese ancestry – including those with only 1/16th Japanese blood – were given one week to settle their affairs. Farmers desperately looked to neighbors to help take care of their crops, but like many Japanese-American business owners, they faced financial ruin. Families lost everything, forced to sell off homes, shops, furnishings, even the clothes they couldn’t carry with them, to buyers happy to snap them up for next to