Broken Promises: Japanese Relocation in WWII

1273 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II

On December 8, 1941 the United States declared war against Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7. As a result President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19 1942, which authorized the establishment of war relocation camps for the protection of the United States against reconnaissance and sabotage by Japanese decedents. It was believed that all Japanese decedents located near the Pacific Coast posed a threat to defense, however Japanese decedents in Hawaii were not required to relocate despite the large population within the state. In other areas however, Japanese decedents were initially asked to willingly leave their residences and move to war relocation camps. As time went on mandatory evacuations initiated by the government transpired throughout California, eventually removing all people of Japanese decent. Throughout the evacuation process, the government made reassurances to those leaving that they would assist them with their land, businesses, material possession, as well as providing them with adequate living conditions in the temporary assembly centers and the permanent relocation centers once they were transferred. Despite the government’s promises and reassurance the Japanese encountered inhumane treatment and substandard living conditions throughout the relocation process.

Franklin D. Roosevelt approved Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 to authorize the Secretary of War and Military Commanders the ability to establish military zones in designated areas. Within the order there were instructions detailing the support that the Secretary of War and Military Commanders would receive by Executive Departments, independent establishments and other national groups. These gro...

... middle of paper ...

...res that were appropriated or sold, 43,000 of those were awaiting a new owner or caretaker of the land. As the evacuation process continued, so did the increase in farms and the loss of crops, which not only negatively affected the Japanese but also California. For those Japanese farmers that were able to find someone to maintain the land while they were relocated encounter problems of attainting rights to the land once they returned home and/or discovered that their tools had been misused and that the property was under duress due to losses. The amount of Japanese farmers that suffered losses was greater than those who were able to continue their lives where it was left off once the war was over. This loss left many people with anger and bitterness because they needed to rebuild themselves from the ground up when they returned to what they thought was home.

Show More
Related

  • World War II - Australian Prisoners of War in Japan

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1937, Japan started a war against China, in search of more resources to expand its empire. In 1941, during World War II, Japan attacked America which is when the Allies (Australia, Britain etc.) then declared war on Japan. Before long the Japanese started extending their territory closer and closer to Australia and started taking surrendering troops into concentration camps where they were starved, diseased and beaten. When they were captured, one survivor reports that they were told

    Read More

  • Kabuo Assumed Guilty Because of Japanese Heritage in Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japanese Internment Camps were established to keep an eye on everyone of Japanese decent. The internment camps were based on an order from the President to relocate people with Japanese Heritage. This meant relocating 110,000 Japanese people. “Two thirds of these people were born in America and were legal citizens, and of the 10 people found to be spying for the Japanese during World War II, not one was of Japanese ancestry” (Friedler 1). Thus, there was no reason for these internment camps, but people do irrational things when driven by fear. In theinternment camps, many of the Japanese became sick or even died because of lack of nourishment in the food provided at these camps. The conditions in the internment camps were awful. One of the internment camps, Manzanar, was located to the west of Desert Valley in California. “Manzanar barracks measured 120 x 20 feet and were divided into six one-room apartments, ranging in size from 320 to 480 square feet.

    Read More

  • How Is Japanese Internment Justified

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    During 1941 many Americans were on edge as they became increasingly more involved in WWII. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese decided to take matters to their own hands. They attacked the naval base Pearl Harbor and killed 68 Americans in order to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with their military. After this surprise attack, the Americans officially entered the war, which caused many people to become paranoid (Baughman). Many people feared the Japanese because they thought they were spies for Japan, and because of this the Executive Order 9066 was signed and issued by FDR which sent many Japanese Americans to live in internment camps (Roosevelt). This caused the Japanese to become a scapegoat of America’s fear and anger. The Issei and Nisei who once moved to this country to find new opportunities and

    Read More

  • Japanese Internment Camps Essay

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ten weeks after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) singed an Executive Order of 9066 that authorized the removal of any people from military areas “as deemed necessary or desirable”(FDR). The west coast was home of majority of Japanese Americans was considered as military areas. More than 100,000 Japanese Americans was sent and were relocated to the internment camps that were built by the United States. Of the Japanese that were interned, 62 percent were Nisei (American born, second generation) or Sansei (third-generation Japanese) the rest of them were Issai Japanese immigrants. Americans of Japanese ancestry were far the most widely affected. The Japanese internment camps were wrong because the Japanese were accused as spies, it was racism, and it was a violation to the United States constitution laws.

    Read More

  • World War II as a Good War

    1889 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1944, two and a half years after signing Executive Order 9066, fourth-term President Franklin D. Roosevelt rescinded the order. The last internment camp was closed by the end of 1945. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment05/

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Executive Order 9056

    272 Words  | 1 Pages

    After the event of Pearl Harbor, all Japanese American citizens were considered dangerous. The purpose of Executive Order 9066 was to protect

    Read More

  • The Scapegoat

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    December 7, 1941 was a military accomplishment for Japan. Japanese Bomber planes had flown over the island of Hawaii and bombed the American naval base Pearl Harbor. After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans believed that the Japanese Americans, were disloyal and were sabotaging the United States Government. There were rumors that most Japanese Americans exchanged military information and had hidden connections with Japanese military. None of these claims were ever proven to be true but believed by many at the time. The United States Government became concerned about National Security and demanded action. On Thursday, February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066, which called for an evacuation of Japanese Americans on the west coast with the excuse of a “military necessity.” The government’s enforcement of Executive Order 9066 in reaction to the public resulted in the creation of internment camps.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Japanese Internment Camps

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    The effects World War II had on internment camps. On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was also the beginning of the turning point in WWII as it pushed America into the war. In late 1941 and early 1942 rumors of Japanese-American citizens, plotting to take down the U.S. from the inside started to spread, this lead to the passing of the Executive Order 9066, which forced all of the

    Read More

  • The Japanese Internment Camps

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1945 Japanese-American citizens with undisrupted loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast, but not until 1946 was the last camp closed. The government of the U.S. tried to blame the evacuations on the war, saying they were protecting the Japanese by moving them. The government made statements during this time that contradicted each other. For example, Japanese-Americans were being called “enemy aliens” but then they were encouraged by the government to be loyal Americans and enlist in the armed forces, move voluntarily, put up no fight and not question the forced relocation efforts (Conn, 1990). Stetson Conn (1990) wrote “For several decades the Japanese population had been the target of hostility and restrictive action.”

    Read More

  • Japanese Internment After Pearl Harbor

    2439 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Japanese Internment

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nevertheless, Japanese were resented and disliked by whites. Due to pressure from state leaders near the west coast, President Roosevelt, on February 19, 1942, signed Executive Order 9066. This resulted in the which resulted in the violent imprisonment of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. When the government gave its internment order, whites rounded up, imprisoned, and exiled their Japanese neighbors. In 1942, 110,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the United States were relocated to ten internment camps. More than two thirds of those sent to internment camps, under the Executive Order, had never shown disloyalty and were also citizens of the United States. In April 1942, the War Relocation Authority was created to control the assembly centers, relocation centers, and internment camps, and oversee the relocation of Japanese-Americans. It took another forty years for the US government to recognize the violations of this population's constitutional rights.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: The Invisible Thread

    366 Words  | 1 Pages

    On February 19, 1942 the president signed an Executive order to evict all Japanese from the west coast. In the memoir she describes all the procedures her family and her needed to go through before they were sent to the camp. “ Barrack 16 turned out to be nothing more than an old stable, with twenty-five stalls facing north, back to back with the

    Read More

  • Japanese Internment: A Lesson from the Past

    2309 Words  | 5 Pages

    World War II was a time of heightened tension. The entire world watched as fascism and dictatorships battled against democracy and freedom in the European theater. The United States looked on, wishing to remain neutral and distant from the war. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, officially drawing the U.S. into the war. Thousands of young sailors died in the attack and several U.S. Navy vessels were sunk. The attack marked the beginning of the United States’ involvement in World War II as well as the beginning of the persecution of Japanese Americans in the U.S. Hysteria and outrage increased across the country and largely contributed to the authority’s decision to act against the Japanese. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing the military to place anyone of Japanese lineage in restri...

    Read More

  • Operation Blacklist: The Allied Occupation Of Japan

    131 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II which was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the profession of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan. This foreign attendance marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a distant power. It changed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled "New Deal" urgencies of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt. The job, codenamed Operation Blacklist, which had ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, and definite from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's power – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu

    Read More

  • Farming the Home Place, by Valerie J. Matsumoto

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the end of World War I in 1919, a group of thirty Japanese settled in San Joaquin Valley, California making their ethnic community in Cortez. Despite the Alien Land Law of 1913, which prevented Asians from purchasing land or leasing it for more than three years, most of the families were able to establish fruit orchards in large land areas. It is this community that the author of the book conducted her research.

    Read More

More about Broken Promises: Japanese Relocation in WWII

Open Document