Japanese-Americans During WWII

Japanese-American Internment was the relocation of many Japanese-American and Japanese descendents into camps known as “War Relocation Camps” during World War II (specifically after the attack on Pearl Harbor). In 1942, the United States government relocated and interned approximately 120,000 Japanese-American citizens and people of Japanese descent into relocation camps. This internment lasted for about four years, and was backed by the government as well as the president. The last relocation camp was closed in January 1946, five months after World War II officially ended.

The American government evacuated approximately 120,000 Japanese Nationals, American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II, and placed them in internment camps at the beginning of World War II. Japanese Americans were forced from their homes and businesses, forced into relocation camps in the deserts of California, Arizona, into the mountains of Idaho, and small towns in the southern United States. These were Japanese American people of unquestionable loyalty to the United States. These were citizens denied the rights of normal citizens under the United States Constitution. Americans who had volunteered to fight in the war for the United States, and against the Japan. They wanted to fight for the United

Startled by the surprise attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbor and anxious about a full-fledged Japanese attack on the United States’ West Coast, American government officials targeted all people of Japanese descent, regardless of their citizenship status, occupation, or demonstrated loyalty to the US. As my grandfather—Frank Matsuura, a nisei born in Los Angeles, California and interned in the Granada War Relocation Center (Camp Amache)—often

The clearest factor that caused internment was the Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. In a surprise attack aimed at preventing further American naval presence in the Pacific, native Japanese militants bombed the U.S. naval base stationed in Hawaii, causing thousands of casualties and the destruction of many ships/other military assets. This attack signaled the start of America’s involvement in World War 2, and provoked a fevered panic across the nation. Now faced with enormous political pressure, President Theodore Roosevelt signed what would become Executive Order 9066, 74 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor (Renteln, 2). Besides the obvious influence of the Pearl Harbor attack, a major justification for this internment act included the fact that some Japanese American community leaders had ties to their homeland’s involvement in World War 2, and their presence in the Pacific Northwest raised concern. More generally, at a time of such confusion and fear, immigrants associated with the country who had attacked America without warning were widely considered a potential danger to the public. The reasoning that this seizure of rights was simply a “military necessity” is the shallow answer that many government officials gave, and does not even begin to

Imagine yourself time traveling back to 1942, it wasn’t the best of times for the United States. The Japanese had recently bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7th 1941. Panic had spread throughout the country with one common fear; Japanese Americans. The government and Americans worried that the Japanese Americans would side with Japan and turn on the United States and it’s citizens. Due to the fear of their ancestry, Japanese Americans were sent to interment camps, where they could be watched.

After the raid on Pearl Harbor, there were still about 120,000 Japanese-Americans living in the United States. In order to prevent panic and hysteria against Japanese-Americans, President Roosevelt ordered that 110,000 Japanese pack their things and move to internment camps for the nation’s safety. After this, ordinary Americans turned their backs to their Japanese-American friends. There was a sudden prejudice and fear of these people, who in fact posed a minimal threat. According to Holt McDougal’s The Americans, “about two thirds were Nisei, or Japanese people born in this country of parents who emigrated from Japan” (McDougal). Nisei had American nationalities, many had never stepped foot on Japanese soil, but the American people believed that these true Americans were loyal to a nation they had never even laid eyes on, purely because their President had told them

Japanese were being interned was because the Americans didn’t want any risk of a spy in them that they didn’t know about. After Pearl harbor, the Americans wanted to test the American Japanese loyalty, and they were rude when they built their homes in the camps. Racism was a big problem in the U.S.

In the 1900’s many Japanese came to America in search of a better life. They found a home in Hawaii as well as the main land where they would take up jobs such as fishermen and railroad workers. Economically, they didn't fell very welcome in America, the white workers tried to push them out by making them uncomfortable in their jobs. Politics were also not on their side, laws prevented the Japanese from owning land or becoming naturalize citizens. Suddenly the Immigration Act of 1924 stopped all immigration to the U.S. The next generation, the Japanese Americans attended public schools along side Americans but were still facing discrimination. After Pearl Harbor they were treated even worse than before. Americans were confusing the Japanese

Many people are unaware of the forced relocation of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This is no wonder, as the U.S. is not proud of this dark moment. It is mentioned in schools as a footnote, often preferring to focus on the similar relocation of German Jews and other ‘undesirables.’ The internment of the Japanese people stemmed from fear and xenophobia that America still experiences today. Pearl Harbor instilled fear and animosity toward Japanese Americans in the rest of the population. Due to this fear, the president found it necessary to intern Japanese Americans in ‘concentration camps.’ Those in and out of the camps were treated poorly by the rest of society, living in fear. These camps not only impacted the lives

Over 120,000 Japanese were held in internment camps between February 19, 1942, and March 20, 1946. Japanese internment was the result of the Pearl Harbor attack at 8:00 am on December 7, 1941. The Japanese soldiers attacked in fighter planes attempting to obliterate the American naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii, to weaken America’s naval forces so that the United States would not be able to retaliate. Japan was able to destroy 20 American naval vessels and 300 airplanes, but was not able to fully destroy the base in Honolulu. Shortly after the attack on the Pacific Fleet, President Roosevelt asked to declare war on Japan and Congress approved.

This investigation will explore the question: To what extent was the interment of the Japanese Americans during World War II based on racism? The first source to be evaluated is The Internment of Japanese Americans, which is a book with a collections of chapters, each with a different accredited authors. Often the authors are Pulitzer Prize winners while others are merely professors that have spent their time writing about the subject they teach about. Because of the many different authors used, each chapter is broken down into different viewpoints. The book provides a wide range of insight on the background of the Japanese American internment camps, the controversy over the internment camps and even personal narratives of people’s stories being taken to court. With each chapter a different viewpoint, the book allows a more omnipotent point of view in order to fully determine to what extent the interment of the Japanese Americans during World War II was based on racism.

During War World 2, many Americans suspected that the remaining Japanese-Americans were loyal to their hereditary land and would create disorder and anarchy here in the the United States. There was a paranoia about the large Japanese presence in the United States. CONGRESS OR SOMETHING MADE AN ORDER. The United States began an order which included all people of Japanese ancestry so the government had separated them from their families and friends, and had made them live in the camps. . Japanese-Americans were subjected to racial discrimination, sent to concentration camps because of security risks,

The Japanese were interned in our country during WWII. The United States justified this as a measure of security against the possibility of spies and saboteurs. The United States feared that those of Japanese ancestry would be spying for the Japanese, or would sabotage war efforts. Japanese warplanes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7th, 1941. By December 8th, the United States declared war on Japan, Germany and their allies. The Japanese attack brought America into World War II. It “outraged Americans and sparked a wave of anti-Japanese sentiment across the country. Many blamed all Japanese for the attack, directing their anger and frustration even at Japanese resident aliens and Japanese-Americans who had done nothing that would bring into question their loyalty to the United States” (Morelock). There was an atmosphere of fear, anger, racial animosity, and uncertainty. President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 two months after the declaration of war. It gave the United States Army the authority to round up Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast and put them in “relocation (internment) camps.” “In the spring of 1942, some 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry were taken from their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated by order of the U.S. government. None had committed any acts of treason or espionage, and there was no evidence that any of them contemplated such activities” (Wax 13). Seventy thousand of them were United States’ citizens.

The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was unexpected. The United States suffered heavy losses in the war. This unintended war finally caused American fought back towards Japan. Many Japanese-Americans were being held in detention in a state of intense military preparedness. They were suspected of passing information to the Japanese army or threatening American national security. Many of them were sent to concentration camps without trial or conviction. This measure was disrespectful to Japanese-American human rights.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, United States officials believed that have Japanese- American citizens posed a security threat. Since there was a great deal of Japanese-American citizens living on the west coast, fear of attack within the nation spread like wildfire. As a result, these people were wrongly imprisoned in a similar fashion to Hitler's concentration camps. Although the camps were not as brutal, the prisoners were given only the necessities. To the families that were imprisoned, internment meant the false accusation of being a terrorist. It also meant that they would be stripped of their rights while detained, and also stripped of their dignity when eventually released. Eventually, the Supreme Court decided