Gila River Internment Camp Research Paper

In response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, President Roosevelt sent out an Executive Order 9066 in response to the paranoia in the country that Japanese spies were scoping out the Americans and key war operations. Between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who had lived on the Pacific coast where held in the camps . The justification was that “the Japanese-Americans were moved from vital areas necessary for the war effort” (Eisenhower 8:47). No comparable order applied to Hawaii, one-third of whose population was Japanese-American, or to Americans of German and Italian ancestry. Ten internment camps were established in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. FBI agents raided homes of the first-generation immigrants from Japan. The American government also froze the assets of anyone connected to Japan. These actions violated people’s rights to their property, invaded people’s privacy, and resulted in the arrest of thousands of first generation immigrants. Irreplaceable family heirlooms were confiscated, never to be returned. Objects with a special connection to Japan were labeled “contraband.” Possession of contraband was illegal because it showed allegiance to the enemy. Anyone caught holding on to their precious family keepsakes was arrested. Targets also included Japanese-American citizens—farmers, teachers, business owners, doctors, bankers, and various other productive members of society. Many had already had their assets frozen on July 26, 1941, in response to a Japanese invasion in Asia months before the Pearl Harbor bombings. The mass relocation was a way of showing other people that the actions of the nation was for legitimate reasons. Japanese-Americans were seen as a threat to the nation, and were immediately placed into camps with no just

Executive Order 9066 issued by President Roosevelt on February 19. 1942 was a result of this new racial hatred. This law forced 120,000 Japanese Americans to sell their property, leave their homes, and enter detention camps located around the United States. Many rights granted to citizens by the Constitution were blatantly overlooked during this entire procedure.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the internment of Japanese Americans on the West coast of the United States. On going tension between the United States and Japan rose in the 1930’s due to Japan’s increasing power and because of this tension the bombing at Pearl Harbor occurred. This event then led the United States to join World War II. However it was the Executive Order of 9066 that officially led to the internment of Japanese Americans. Japanese Americans, some legal and illegal residents, were moved into internment camps between 1942-1946. The internment of Japanese Americans affected not only these citizens but the

“Herd ‘em up, pack ‘em off, and give ‘em the inside room in the badlands”(Hearst newspaper column). Many Americans were feeling this way toward people of Japanese descent after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The feelings Americans were enduring were motivated largely by wartime hysteria, racial prejudice, and a failure of political leadership. The Japanese-Americans were being denied their constitutional rights, they were provided poor living conditions in these relocation camps, and by the time apologies and reparations were paid to the Japanese, it was too late.

Allowing as much as a carload per family and possessions, much of their property was left behind. Executive Order 9066 forced all Japanese-Americans from western states into military areas, placing disconnected and detached families into various internment camps.

After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese that propelled the U.S. into World War II, paranoia causes President Roosevelt to sign an executive order forcing all people of Japanese ancestry; including those born in the U.S. to be moved to concentration camps. Even in the towns where the camps were located, stores would post signs saying “No Japs Allowed”.

A month after Order #9066 was signed, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9102 which created the War Relocation Authority and began the forced relocation of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans. The camps contained watchtowers, barbed wire fences, and armed guards. They were more called like concentration camps then, but they were called “relocation camps”, probably to make sound like a “great place” to be in. It was located in swampy southeast Arkansas which created many problems with mosquitos and chiggers. There were 500 acres for the interne living quarters, but they have 10,000 acres of land for the Rohwer Relocation Camp. It had farming areas, timber harvesting, schools, administration buildings, community lavatories, mess halls, recreation building, 36 interne barrack blocks,12 housing barrack blocks, and military police all inside the camp, surrounded by 8 watchtowers and barbed wire fence. The barracks were 120 feet long and 20 feet wide and they would fit 3 to 6 families, housing barrack blocks were furnished with canvas cots and pot-bellied stoves and they had to share the community lavatories,

On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II (Prange et al., 1981: p.174). On February 19, 1942, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War and Military Commanders to prescribe areas of land as excludable military zones (Roosevelt, 1942). Effectively, this order sanctioned the identification, deportation, and internment of innocent Japanese Americans in War Relocation Camps across the western half of the United States. During the spring and summer of 1942, it is estimated that almost 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from their homes along the West Coast and in Hawaii and

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).

     For over a century, the United States has been one of the most powerful and influential states on the globe. However, every nation has made mistakes in its past. Throughout our country’s history, certain groups have had to endure horrible injustices: the enslavement of African-Americans, the removal of Native Americans, and discrimination against immigrants, women, homosexuals, and every other minority. During World War II, the government crossed the line between defending the nation and violating human rights, when it chose to relocate Japanese residents to internment camps. The actions taken by the U.S. government against Japanese Americans and Japanese living in the

When Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942,1 thousands of Japanese-American families were relocated to internment camps in an attempt to suppress supposed espionage and sabotage attempts on the part of the Japanese government. Not only was this relocation based on false premises and shaky evidence, but it also violated the rights of Japanese-Americans through processes of institutional racism that were imposed following the events of Pearl Harbor. Targeting mostly Issei and Nisei citizens, first and second generation Japanese-Americans respectively,2 the policy of internment disrupted the lives of families, resulting in a loss of personal property, emotional distress,

Two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorized “Executive order 9066”. Which made More than 110,000 Japanese in the U.S to relocate to internment camps for reason of “national security”. The United States feared that they’re could have been Japanese spies inside America so the government relocated most Japanese immigrants to camps. It was one of the saddest moments in America that the government of America took actions on innocent people just because their heritage. America’s internment camps are similar yet different to Hitler’s concentrations camps.

The relocation of Japanese Americans was an event that occurred within the United States during World War II. On February 19th, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which forced all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast to be evacuated from the area and relocated to internment camps all across the United States, where they would be imprisoned. Approximately 120,000 people were sent to the camps and the event lasted through the years 1942 and 1945. The main cause of the relocation and internment of these people was because of fear made among Japanese people after Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Citizens of the United States had been worrying about the possibility of Japanese residents of the country aiding Japan, and/or secretly trying to destroy American companies.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066. By signing the order, President Roosevelt directed the secretary of war to put certain zones under military power. The authorization of this order eventually led to the internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans that had been living in the United States for years. These Japanese Americans were imprisoned because of their ancestry. The imprisonment impacted their overall health and resulted in financial disaster.

Like all issues involving race or war, the question of whether or not it was legal and ethical to make Japanese Americans move to relocation camps in early WWII is a difficult and controversial problem. The internment of around 50,000 Japanese citizens and approximately 70,000 Japanese-American people born in the U.S. living in the American West Coast has become known as a tragedy and mistake. The government even set up numerous projects to apologize to the American citizens who were wronged (Bosworth). Still, at the time that the decision to relocate was made, the actions were constitutionally legal and seen by many as necessary. The actions were not based on racist feelings. It was, however,