Japanese Internment Camps Dbq

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.

The 4th Amendment was violated because the FBI searched the homes of Japanese often without search warrants, seeking any items identified as being a Japanese .The 5th Amendment was also violated because it forced the removal and subsequent detention of Japanese Americans as a result in the denial of witness in their favor. The Japanese who were picked up by the FBI were denied a speedy trial or access to any legal representative. Many of the Bill of Rights Amendments Constitutional laws were violated by the American people and even the president. Many of the Japanese Americans were deprived of their liberty and property when forced from their jobs, homes, and communities into barbed wire, guarded centers, and into the camps.

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.

Photograph #1 shows a large group of Japanese Americans lining up behind a table, for what appears to be their registration into a Japanese internment camp. Within the group, you can see looks of confusion and distress on most of the adult faces, as well as looks of confusion and crying from the children. Many of the Japanese Americans are carrying few belongings other than the man to the left with one bag in his hand, and the woman in front of him who has an item in her hands; it is implied that after registering their names with the United States government representatives at the table, they will be sent to the internment camps with what they have. With the confusion on their faces as well, it could be assumed that some people did not even know that they could take belongings with them to the camps. It could also be assumed that many in the line are not sure why they have to register in these camps, as they have been living normal American lives up until this point in 1942.

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.

Japanese internment camps from 1942 to 1946 were an exemplification of discrimination, many Japanese Americans were no longer accepted in their communities after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were perceived as traitors and faced humiliation due to anti-Japanese sentiment causing them to be forced to endure several hardships such as leaving behind their properties to go an imprisoned state, facing inadequate housing conditions, and encountering destitute institutions. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 (Why I Love a Country that Once Betrayed Me). This led president Roosevelt to sign the executive order 9066, which authorized the army to remove any individual that seemed as a potential threat to the nation (“Executive Order 9066”) This order allowed the military to exclude “‘any or all persons from designated areas, including the California coast.”’ (Fremon 31). Many Japanese opposed to leave the Pacific Coast on their own free will (Fremon 24) . Japanese Americans would not be accepted in other areas if they moved either.Idaho’s governor stated, Japanese would be welcomed “only if they were in concentration camps under guard”(Fremon 35). The camps were located in Arizona, Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and California where thousands of Japanese Americans eventually relocated. (“Japanese Americans at Manzanar”) The internment lasted for 3 years and the last camp did not close until 1946. (Lessons Learned: Japanese Internment During WW2)

It wasn’t very long after Pearl Harbor that we succumbed to fear of the Japanese here in America, thinking they were spies, and still loyal their ancestral land. Sadly, even our president Roosevelt succumbed to this, in which he signed executive order 9066 which authorized the relocation of all Japanese citizens here in America to internment camps where they would spend 4 years of their life, and lose their homes, valuables, lifes savings,businesses, and much more. Japanese Americans were taken by bus and train to assembly centers such as racetracks and fairgrounds, after this there were camps were created in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. Over 127,000 United States citizens were imprisoned during World War II because

Following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, racial tensions increased in the United States, especially on the West Coast (Divine 898). The anti-Japanese sentiment led to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which gave military officials the power to limit the civil rights of Japanese Americans (Danzer 802). The order also authorized the forced relocation of all Japanese Americans to concentration camps (Divine 898). These camps were located in desolate deserts and flatlands in the interior of the United States (Sato 67). Two thirds of the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forced to relocate were “Nisei”, or native born American citizens (Divine 898).

     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

On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II (Prange et al., 1981: p.174). On February 19, 1942, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War and Military Commanders to prescribe areas of land as excludable military zones (Roosevelt, 1942). Effectively, this order sanctioned the identification, deportation, and internment of innocent Japanese Americans in War Relocation Camps across the western half of the United States. During the spring and summer of 1942, it is estimated that almost 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from their homes along the West Coast and in Hawaii and

The relocation of Japanese Americans was an event that occurred within the United States during World War II. On February 19th, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which forced all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast to be evacuated from the area and relocated to internment camps all across the United States, where they would be imprisoned. Approximately 120,000 people were sent to the camps and the event lasted through the years 1942 and 1945. The main cause of the relocation and internment of these people was because of fear made among Japanese people after Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Citizens of the United States had been worrying about the possibility of Japanese residents of the country aiding Japan, and/or secretly trying to destroy American companies.

Fred Korematsu, is a natural born citizen with Japanese ancestry who refused to leave his home. He was convicted for violating military orders issued under Executive Order 9066. Korematsu challenged the United States government by saying that the government does not have the power to have relocation orders and

Many Japanese Americans challenged internment and the other acts against Japanese Americans by civil disobedience and legal challenges in the courts. Yasui v. United

With the Japanese being the offender of the mass destruction on Pearl Harbor, America became apprehensive and extremely cautious of any person or persons who had Japanese heritage in America or any Japanese immigrants. This was anti-Japanese prejudice. This American fear gave the president at the time, Franklin Roosevelt, the feeling he had to do something about these discouraged citizens. Ten weeks into World War II, President Roosevelt, signed the Executive Orders that put the Japanese Americans into internment camps. This Executive Order ordered relocation of all Americans of Japanese ancestry to concentration camps in the interior of the United States.