Japanese American Internment Camps During Ww2

While the attack on Pearl Harbor was a devastating time in United States history and the attack being conducted by the Japanese government, it didn’t not justify Japanese Americans being put into internment camps. The fear of a Japanese attack on mainland United States soil prompted the United States government to create these internment camps. Such fear lead to innocent Japanese Americans to live in a way that could be considered inhuman. Of the hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans in the internment camps half of them were children. The conditions of the camps where no way of life and Japanese Americans were forced to live in an undignified life that

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

They moved the Japanese-Americans for a reason. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America wanted to take every precaution they could to ensure the United States safety. In doing so, the army and government took the precaution to create the internment of Japanese-Americans. They moved them to camps that they would keep them in and provide decent living conditions. The United States was justified in moving the Japanese Americans because some lived near vital naval bases that they could have infiltrated, there was no problem in doing so, and it would protect all citizens of America.

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.

In many times throughout history groups of people have been discriminated against based on race or religion. These people receive inferior rights because of the discrimination. In some cases they do not get citizenship, in others they are segregated from others, and physically harmed. Two groups of people that faced discrimination near World War II (WWII) were the Jewish people and Japanese Americans. Both groups faced very different types of discrimination by different oppressors with different motives yet their treatment was very similar and many events paralleled each other. The treatment of Japanese in WWII internment camps was as harsh as the Holocaust's treatment of the Jewish people.

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.

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,

Throughout history of not only the United States but also the world, racism has played a huge role in the treatment of other humans. A dark mark in United States history, the Japanese Relocation during WWII is a prime example of this racism coming into play. Whether or not this event was necessary or even justified, however, is a constant question for historians even nowadays. The Japanese relocation of the 1920’s unnecessary and unjustified because it’s main causes: selfish economic plots by farmers, unrealistic military measures, and blatant racism.

     Another factor in the case is racism. Japanese-Americans were subjected to discrimination from the government even before the United States’ entrance into WWII. Five days before the executive order that allowed for removal of Japanese from the west coast, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt speculated the possibility of the Japanese-Americans acting against the U.S., saying that “the very fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken” (RTAP, 119). This created a no-win situation for the Japanese-Americans because if they did not act against the U.S., it was still thought that inevitably would. Japanese were denied citizenship before the war, as well (RTAP, 121). Inside the camps, the loyalty questionnaires forced them to either renounce both their allegiance to

During World War II, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent who lived on the Pacific Coast of the US were sent to internment camps after the bombing at Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7th, 1941. American citizens made up 62% of those who were interned. And even though these American citizens were being unconstitutionally blocked off from the rest of society, the majority of these citizens still declared that they remained forever loyal to America. Some of the recollections left behind by the internees of their experiences at these camps include letters to their loved ones, diaries, pictures, and even full plays. And while living in often cramped, and poorly maintained conditions, the internees still tried to lead normal lives

In the first place, there was no evidence to support all the accusations Americans had against Japanese-American. In the Article “The Japanese-American Internment”, paragraph 8 it states: “ Henry Steele Commager, comments, ‘It is sobering to recall that the record does not hold a single case of Japanese disloyalty or sabotage during the whole war.’ ” This shows that even though there was no documentation that Japanese had a breach of trust but still had their ‘ crimes’ held against them and were sent into the Japanese-American Internment.

In addition, there were too many Japanese Americans in the camps at a era. There were 400 Japanese Americans living in a barrack at a era. A barrack is the vicinity that the campers lived while in the camps. Also, they were 10,000 people in the camps, like Manzar which is the most crowded camp that was running at the era. In total there were 125,000 Japanese Americans that were living in the camps in the southwest. The reason for so many people in the camp is because they took Japanese American were taken from all over the U.S. The Japanese Americans were taken away in 1942 and did not end until 1945. So the Japanese Americans didn't get to go home for 3 years. Furthermore the reason that so many people are in the camps is because none of them

On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which ripped 122,000 innocent lives out of their homes and shoved them into internment camps. The residents of Japanese ancestry were deemed guilty and suspicious solely based on their ethnicity. Not to mention that they were also feared as a security risk by America. Leaders in California, Oregon, and Washington, demanded the United States to remove them from their homes along the west coast and to be relocated in isolated inland areas. All of this was entirely fueled by America’s war hysteria after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 7, 1941.

In elementary schools children were taught to “duck and cover.” There was enormous propaganda of war floating around. It was something everyone was fearful of, even the Japanese. There whole nation was fearful of what was next especially Mary,” These increasing restrictions created a psychological pall as well as a general fear about what the government would do to us,” (30). Mary is a great example of a young Japanese American girl who was an American citizen but still had to go through her daily life questioning her freedom in her own country. Once she was brought to the interment camp she was certain that her freedom did not exist even though she has proven herself as a perfect citizen, “The injustice of it all haunted me: They had declared me guilty without giving me a chance to prove I had been a loyal and patriotic citizen— but loyalty to the government meant betrayal of myself,” (87). Her mother enforced into her brain to continue to be loyal to the United States, “We’ve been incredibly blessed with so many things to make us comfortable and happy here. Now tomorrow we will begin a new experience. Who knows what that will be like but let us remember all the blessings that we’ve enjoyed here,” (36). Mary is just one, young example of the thousands that had to live their lives in a country that promises nothing but freedom, in a life full of

In the reading Japanese Americans were relocated for their own protection. Edison Tomimaru Uno says that their is “sheer hypocrisy”. He also said that he denies that Japanese Americans posed a National Security threat. He calls the relocation a crime attributable to racism and economic and political opportunism. This supports the thesis because it shows on how “Uno” feels about the Internment Camps.