Japanese American Internment Research Paper

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

Roger Daniels’ book Prisoners without Trial is another book that describes the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This piece discusses about the background that led up to the internment, the internment itself, and what happened afterwards. The internment and relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II was an injustice prompted by political and racial motivations. The author’s purpose of this volume is to discuss the story in light of the redress and reparation legislation enacted in 1988. Even though Daniels gives first hand accounts of the internment of Japanese Americans in his book, the author is lacking adequate citations and provocative quotations. It’s

The order for the military to put Japanese in imprisonment takes away from their constitutional rights and is discriminating against the Japanese race. The

Japanese internment was not and is not justifiable. America is a mixing pot of cultures, religions, and ethnicities. Thus, American citizens do not inherently have a significant relationship to the nations of their heritage. Immigrants to this country actively selected a lifestyle other than that of their homeland, for one reason or another. Those who were born in America, without any first-hand exposure to the home of their parents or grandparents are especially free of potential conflicting ties. This is proven when Grant Hirabayashi admits, “...I was offered what they call…[an appointment as] a military cadet. And, I told the officer...no thanks. I was an American citizen,” (RAP, pg 190). Another point of importance is that an individual can be loyal to their country without wishing to join its military or military

In Doc A it says “The President issued Executive order No. 9066 authorizing...security measures.” (DeWitt 3) This shows that the military and the President himself did the internment for the safety of their people. This even helped the Japanese Americans with their own safety, because if they wouldn't have moved, there would be many fights between Americans and Japanese citizens. If this would’ve happened it could even end in death. As well as this evidence, in Doc C it states “The Japanese are hampered as saboteurs.” (Munson 1) This evidence as well shows that the Japanese Americans would be hampered on and hurt because of their skin and ancestry as well. Not only did the internment protect all citizens from Japanese spies, it also protected the Japanese

Another reason why the United States creates the internment camps was because they feared that the Japanese-Americans were going to betray them. The media carried out a huge role into putting the Japanese in the internment camps. In the Japanese-American relocation camps article written by ……. stated that “in January 1947, a naval intelligence office in Los Angeles reported that the Japanese-American were being perceived as a threat almost entirely, because of physical characteristics of the people”. This caused a huge fright for the Americans thinking that the Japanese-Americans were going to sell them out to the Japanese. The Japanese made sure to make them look bad and throw them In camps. Since they never had evidence they used the media. According to the tragedy of the Japanese-American internment article, “ the court agreed to carry out this persecution”. It was wrong that the court would even carry out this act without

     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

officials eventually began to recruit these internees into the American army. Not only was WWII a war about political alliances and geographical sovereignty, but it was also a war about race and racial superiority throughout the world. Propagating this idea, Dower (1986) argues, “World War Two contributed immeasurably not only to a sharpened awareness of racism within the United States, but also to more radical demands and militant tactics on the part of the victims of discrimination” (War Without Mercy: p.5). In elucidating the racial motivations and fallout from WWII, Dower helps one realize the critical role that race and racial politics played during the war and are still at play in our contemporary world. An analysis of this internment process reveals how the ultimate goal of the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans and the United States’ subsequent occupation of Japan was to essentially “brainwash” the Japanese race into demonstrating allegiance to America.

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,

The Japanese-American placement in internment camps was wrong and unconstitutional. The Japanese-American people had been living in the United States without question until the uprise of racial prejudice brought on by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Many Japanese-Americans had been born in America and lived an American life, integrated into American schools, speaking with American accents, and enjoying American culture. But, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Japanese were suddenly seen as threats that needed to be controlled. Without any consent, these Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps with poor conditions and treated as if they were ticking time bombs themselves.

In the article title Japanese American Relocation and Internment Camps, it states, “Not a single act of espionage, sabotage, or 5th column activity was committed by an American citizen of Japanese ancestry or by a resident Japanese alien.” Nothing was found that could condemn the Japanese as guilty traitors, loyal to Japan. The Japanese were living like all the other American citizens, and yet, they were discriminated against because fear. The government compromised the Americans beliefs and values by issuing Executive Order 9066, which sent the Japanese to internment camps. The Japanese went undeservingly to internment camps because of

The Japanese-American Internment was a necessary choice, made by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It helped to make our nation secure during times of extreme emergency and it also helped the US government to keep their enemy under watch. “The story of how Japanese American soldiers from the war’s most highly decorated US military unit came to be there is just one part of a remarkable saga. It is also a story of one of the darkest periods in American history, one filled with hardship, sacrifice, courage, injustice, and finally, redemption. It began more than a hundred years ago” (Sandler, 2013, p. 6). At the turn of the 21st century began the immigration of the Japanese to America for various reasons, but all with one thing in mind: freedom. “We talked about America; we dreamt about America. We all had one wish – to be in America” (Sandler, 2013, p. 6). The decision by these many people was a grueling and tough decision, but they knew it would benefit them in the long run. “…like their European counterparts, they were willing to risk everything to begin life anew in what was regarded as a golden land of opportunity” (Sandler, 2013, p. 6). When they came to America, they were employed and were able to begin their new lives for the first part of it.

The internment of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor exemplified the lack of compromise for the time, along with the paranoia, and borderline hysteria defined by decisions made based off race and fear made by the government. The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was marked by times of high tension, yet now it stands as a constant reminder of the past and mistakes not to be made again. Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 created a lot of tension in America. With rumors of spies, espionage, and disloyalty, the Japanese American class came under attack from other paranoid Americans in acts of prejudice and want for unconstitutional preemptive action Japanese Americans

All of these innocent Japanese-American citizens were held against their will because Japan was involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor. How is it fair that just because they have the same Japanese background they are categorized as the same people? As said by Kochiyama in the interview “We had all of our civil rights taken away” (Osborne & Casey 2). This interview was not only heartbreaking but eye-opening. As Kochiyama describes the camps she and many others were forced into just because of their