Japanese-American Concentration Camps

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

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.

World War II was a war that the United States tried hard to stay out of, acting as the democratic nation they sought to be. But after the U.S. started fighting, and as the war escalated, the nation started using a not-so-democratic tactic that ultimately put down and targeted one specific group of people. The tactic of nationwide internment based on a certain ethnicity or race has never been used again since. Although it can be argued that Japanese Internment was necessary in the U.S. because it was a case of national security, the real truth to the matter is that it was an act of racial prejudice.

The decision to imprison Japanese Americans was a popular one in 1942. It was supported not only by the government, but it was also called for by the press and the people. In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Japan was the enemy. Many Americans believed that people of Japanese Ancestry were potential spies and saboteurs, intent on helping their mother country to win World War II. “The Japanese race is an enemy race,” General John DeWitt, head of the Western Defense Command wrote in February 1942. “And while many second and third generation Japanese born in the United States soil, possessed of United States citizenship, have become ‘Americanized,’ the racial strains are

The beginning of everything that the Japanese citizens of our nation had to endure,was the bombing of an American Naval Base. It was an early sunday morning on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked a naval base in Hawaii known as Pearl Harbor (DeWitt 1). This act of war cause 2,400 American people aboard a naval ship die. After the attack, President Roosevelt and congress declared war on Japan, with America declaring war on Japan , Japanese-Americans suffered immensely. In fear that the Japanese may attack the weakened west coast, President Roosevelt signed an order, known as Executive Order No. 9066, which let the military remove Japanese-Americans or anyone of the Japanese decent ,and have them relocated into internment camps. Interment

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.

Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the idea that every Japanese-American was guilty of being Japanese and apart of the Japanese government. Since this mass hysteria spread, the U.S. drove 127,000 Japanese-Americans into internment camps for the duration of WW2. In these internment camps, also known as concentration camps, the Japanese Americans had no say in who they were, what they believed in, and who they were fight for. If you were born with any Japanese blood running through you system, you were automatically a target. Two-thirds of the prisoners were born in the U.S., many never even stepped foot on Japan.

During WWII, many Japanese-American citizens were imprisoned. They were imprisoned for being from the Japanese decent. There was no evidence to convict these people but they still were imprisoned. Many Japanese came to the West Coast, which caused Americans some paranoia. Americans thought that the Japanese might be terrorists in disguise. In February of 1942, President Roosevelt ordered Americans of Japanese to be sent to concentration camps which were located in various areas of the United States. There were many aspects to the imprisonment of the Japanese-Americans such as their life before coming to the camps, the executive order 9066, and what it was like being in the concentration camps.

After the bomb of pearl harbor anyone that was Japanese-American was put into an internment camp, Why? Because our government thought that anyone that was Japanese was selling secrets to our enemy also known as Japan. Many people died inside of these internment camps, most of the people in the internment camps were innocent. Imagine living your life then it is disrupted because one person living in america that was japanese was giving away secrets about your country.

Americans citizens should recognize the importance of the Japanese American Internment Camps. After the was made attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. military base was bombed, Americans were filled with terror. World War Ⅱ was an all-out event like no other. Residents living on the Pacific Coast of the United States were emotionally unstable and thought the Japanese were going attacks again but this time their homes or cities. Many Americans were accusing the Japanese living in the U.S. for being accountable for bombing of Pearl Harbor, which cause racism and suspicion towards the Japanese Americans living in the United States.

On February 19,1942, president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. This forced all Japanese Americans regardless of citizenship to evacuate to the West coast. Given a one week notice to take care of business, sell their house and shops, and pack up their families, bringing only what they could carry to the trains where they would be brought to one of ten internment camps. Leaving behind friends, neighbors and even family.

On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed an American naval base on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States declared war on Japan the next day, and while the American military would take countless innocent Japanese civilian lives on its path to victory in the deadliest conflict in human history, the US also made victims of its own citizens in its effort to defeat Japan. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an order for the internment of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Over 100,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated off the coast and incarcerated in camps. The camps were cramped, crude and cruelly isolated.

The relocation and imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II has been and always will be a dark stain in American History. Due to America’s lingering racism and prejudices, many of our fellow Americans had to experience an ordeal that no other American should ever have to face. They lost their homes, businesses, land and more importantly, their freedoms, during a moment of time that was filled with resentment, mistrust, fear and hatred towards a fellow man (American) that was just as willing to fight and die for their country.

Whenever you think of World War II camps, the first thing that comes to mind are the Nazi concentration camps. Although not many people think about the American internment camps, they were a very big problem at the time for the Japanese. Most of the Japanese were relocated to these camps, many of which were atrocious. During World War II, the Japanese-American internment camps had many issues, such as: being forced from communities, harsh living conditions, and prejudice from the non-Japanese.

Shortly after the United States entered into war with Japan, the federal government initiated a policy whereby 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and herded into camps, 2/3 of these people were actually United States citizens. They were incarcerated without indictment, trial, or counsel - not because they had committed a crime, but simply because they resembled the enemy. These were similar to concentration camps that the Germans were using for the Jews, though no one was being killed and Japanese Americans were allowed to work within the camps. Not many Americans knew about the camps at that time, and some still don't know today. Like discussed in class, it was an embarrassing moment for this country. The book that was assigned in class, Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida, told the story of a family who lived through these horrible times. As we discussed in class