Japanese Internment Camps Essay

On December 7,1941 Japan raided the airbases across the islands of Pearl Harbour. The “sneak attack” targeted the United States Navy. It left 2400 army personnel dead and over a thousand Americans wounded. U.S. Navy termed it as “one of the great defining moments in history”1 President Roosevelt called it as “A Day of Infamy”. 2 As this attack shook the nation and the Japanese Americans became the immediate ‘focal point’. At that moment approximately 112,000 Persons of Japanese descent resided in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington and also in California and Arizona.3

More than 110,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast of the United States were forced and placed into internment camp. Many believe that the internment camps were necessary for national defense. Conversely, I believe that the actions taken place at time of war were unnecessary and racist acts. Throughout this paper, I will discuss how and why the removal of the Japanese-Americans was uncalled for and harsh, while addressing the counterpoint. The first reason I believe that the Internment camps were despotic is that for other war like situations, no actions this harsh were taken.

After Japanese terrorist attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, Americans have discriminated Japanese- Americans after their tremendous incident. Since the U.S. proclaimed a war zone, they decided to send Japanese-Americans to internment camps to keep themselves “secure”. The U.S. also sent Japanese-Americans to internment camps to make it accessible for the military to find Japanese spies. Some people accepted the execution the U.S. took to clarify this situation and some disagreed with the execution. In the excerpt “Camp Harmony,” from the autobiography Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone, a Japanese-American, the purpose is to share the experience of a Nisei daughter who had to go to a Japanese internment camp with her family. The

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

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

The Japanese internment was not justified because the motives for interment were fueled by racism and discrimination. Protection from the threats of World War II mainly seemed to focus on the Japanese due to the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The fear of targeted bombings and mass killing caused war hysteria in Americans. Because of this, Americans acted irrationally against the Japanese-Americans and failed to be open-minded. Evidence of this discrimination and segregation showed in the Japanese-American stereotypes as spies.

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.

“Herd ‘em up, pack ‘em off, and give ‘em the inside room in the badlands”(Hearst newspaper column). Many Americans were feeling this way toward people of Japanese descent after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The feelings Americans were enduring were motivated largely by wartime hysteria, racial prejudice, and a failure of political leadership. The Japanese-Americans were being denied their constitutional rights, they were provided poor living conditions in these relocation camps, and by the time apologies and reparations were paid to the Japanese, it was too late.

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

Written in the 1940s, Arthur Miller’s play the crucible explores the hysteria, persecution, and lack of due process that characterized the 1692 Salem Trials. Arguably, the themes explored in this play resonate with many modern and historical events. Arthur Miller himself saw strong connection between the events surrounding the Red Scare in the 1950s. When juxtaposed with events of the crucible, themes of hysteria, persecution, and lack of due process also emerge from a study of the Japanese Internment Camps. In December 7 1941, one of the American colonies was attacked by Japan. After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, America was feared of the

     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

The Japanese internment camps ruined the lives of the many Japanese-Americans who were involved. On December 7, Japan bombed pearl harbor and killed many Americans. This is what caused the Japanese-American internment camps. Pearl Harbor was a place in Hawaii where American ships were stationed. Japanese planes bombed the fleet and destroyed it. This is significant because it was a big time of racism and discrimination towards Japanese people. It later showed that Americans were wrong and changed the way people looked at Japanese-Americans. It also caused America to enter World War II. The Japanese internment camps of World War II was wrong by the American government and a hard time for the Japanese victims because

Imagine 110,00 people being taken away into internment camps, that’s nearly the population of the big island! This is what happened to many japanese-americans during the pearl harbor bombing. I believe that it was not necessary to place japanese-americans into internment camps because it was a act of racism, violated japanese-americans rights and lastly it was unconstitutional.

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.

The move to the internment camps was a difficult journey for many Japanese-Americans. Many of them were taken from their homes and were allowed only to bring a few belongings. Okubo colorfully illustrates the dramatic adjustment of lifestyle that Japanese-Americans had to make during the war. Authentic sketches accompany each description of the conditions that were faced and hardships that were overcome. The illustrations were drawn at the time each event described throughout the story took place. Each hand drawn picture seems to freeze time, capturing the feelings and intense anxiety many felt during the war. The pictures assist the author's first person narration and assist the reader in creating an accurate