Japanese American Internment Camps In The 1930's

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.

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.

The idea for these camps was brought on by propaganda, creating fears amongst not only regular citizens, but government officials as well (“Japanese American Internment” 2016). Over 127,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned when the camps had first been developed, up until the last camp was closed in 1946 (“Japanese Relocation” 2016). The

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.

The issues of Japanese-American internment camps is one of the most controversial, yet important time periods of American history. Many have asked: Why should we learn about this event? The event of Japanese-American internment camps has changed the way America and its citizens are looked upon. As Americans, this event is important to learn so that an injustice like this will never happen again in our history. This event has helped many people gain more rights and civil liberties. This event has also helped other groups fight for their rights and freedoms. Although this event had caused fear and pain, it had changed America and its treatment toward citizens of different descents and ethic backgrounds.

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

     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

Our president during World War II was Franklin D. Roosevelt. On February 19, 1942, he “authorized the internment of ten of thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident aliens from Japan.”1 The attack on Pearl Harbor incited the fear against Japanese Americans, because the United States believed that Japanese Americans would turn their backs on the U.S. and be a threat to the security. This authorization was called the Presidential Executive Order 9066. Even though there was no evidence that they imposed threat, the military’s command was to take over and invade Japanese homes. The Japanese were ordered to live in internment camps in the West Coast. These camps were in horrible conditions and fenced with barbed wire. In the camps, the Japanese-American civilians created their own small city with their own doctors, food, and teachers.

The topic I choose to right about is the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. The question that I intend to answer today is: The Constitution guarantees American citizens no imprisonment without due process of law, yet has been violated by the federal government in at least two American wars. How did the government justify interning Japanese-American citizens in World War II? In order to understand why this happened we have to first look at what happened. We are going to look at a couple things in this paper: The Executive Order of 9066 and Korematsu v. United States (1944). As well as we are good to look at just why the U.S. decided to not give these people the basic

The Japanese Internment Camps were unfair to majority of the Japanese that did not participate in spying for Japan during the war, but it was somewhat necessary to limit the few who would harm the U.S. The Japanese were subjected to imprisonment because of rumors and fear. They were forced to live in poor living conditions. Even though their everyday life was normal there were still watch towers to remind them that they had their life stolen from them.

Many Japanese Americans were taken from their homes and taken to internment camps. Each person found threatening was given forty eight hours to take care of their business, gather the few things they could take with them, and remove themselves from their homes.

“We couldn’t do anything about the orders from the U.S government. I just lived from day to day without any purpose…”, this is one of the quotes from the Japanese-Americans that were relocated to one of the tragic internment camps. The Japanese-Americans were being relocated and played around with when they were under suspicion of being spies. Many people were being racist to the Japanese race at this time, which made many Japanese people feel crestfallen.