Japanese Internment December 7th, 1941 was a day in history that would be remembered by all. The day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor will stay in our minds for as long as we live. After the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor the Americans had learned that there was a spy that enabled the Japanese to get such precise targeting on Pearl Harbor and destroy many of the ships. After the report of a spy being in Hawaii the United States decided that they would not take any chances and had made a suggestion of eliminating all of the Japanese Americans in the United States. Their acts were very similar to those of Hitler's, but without all of the murders. On February 19th, 1942, President Roosevelt issued the document known as Executive Order 9066. This document let the War Department classify anyplace in the country as a military area and bar people in those areas. The only problem is that the only people that were barred were the Japanese Americans and no other races. The evacuation included 112,000 Japanese Americans. The Japanese American families were told to pack as much as they can carry and were then told to sell the rest of their property for whatever they could get. After the families had packed and sold there personal properties the armed forces moved them from their homes to receiving stations, where they then boarded on buses or trains and were taken to fair grounds or race tracks where families might be housed in horse stalls. Then they were sent to one of the ten relocation camps on the western side of the United States. The camps were in remote areas that were unsuitable for farming, surrounded by fences, and guarded by the army. When they had arrived at the camps they went to wooden barracks that were divided into one-room apartments where an entire family lived. There was almost no furniture and only a bare bulb for light. The toilets, bathing facilities, and dining areas were shared by many of the families living in the same barracks together. Half of the Nisei that were in the camps were under eighteen years of age and the government had not planned for schools. There were hardly any Recreation facilities and there was no work anywhere in the camps.
The conditions were OK as a concentration camp, however as more prisoners came, it drastically worsened. There was “overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, the lack of adequate food, water, and shelter.” Near “1945, the food was a watery soup with rotten vegetables.” (Bauer, Yehuda p.359) People were “dumped behind barbed wire without food or water and left to die.” (ushmm.org) It was so overcrowded that corpses were piled out in the open without being buried.
Roosevelt would issue Executive Order 9066, giving the United States government power to imprison anyone considered a threat to the safety and America’s national security. Although Italian and German-Americans fell under this Executive Order, the largest population affected, would be Japanese-Americans. With quick enforcement, without trial or justification, Japanese-Americans would be singled out, simply because of their race. America’s hatred of the Japanese and anger over the attack in Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941), would demonize over 110,000 Japanese-Americans, to include men, women and
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
What were the Japanese internment camps some might ask. The camps were caused by the attack of Pearl Harbor in 1942 by Japan. President Roosevelt signed a form to send all the Japanese into internment camps.(1) All the Japanese living along the coast were moved to other states like California, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. The camps were located away from Japan and isolated so if a spy tried to communicate, word wouldn't get out. The camps were unfair to the Japanese but the US were trying to be cautious. Many even more than 66% or 2/3 of the Japanese-Americans sent to the internment camps in April of 1942 were born in the United States and many had never been to Japan. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestors and they were suspected of being spies to their homeland of Japan. Japanese-American World War I veterans that served for the United States were also sent to the internment camps.(2)
One of the biggest problems was sanitation. Clean water for drinking and bathing was rare and illness from poor hygiene or contaminated water was very common. Most of the camps were in tight groups and contagious diseases such as chickenpox, colds or the flu would spread over camp within
Japanese internment camps were located around the Western United States with the exception of Arkansas (which is located further east). On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. This sparked a period of war-time paranoia that led to the internment or incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans. Almost all of them were loyal citizens. Actually, many of them were not allowed to become citizens due to certain laws. Although these camps were nowhere close to as horrible as the concentration camps in Europe, the conditions were still pretty harsh for a while and caused internees to have various physical and psychological health effects and risks in the future.
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.
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
In 1942 Roosevelt signed the Executive order 9066 which forced all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast. They were forced out no matter their loyalty or their citizenship. These Japanese-Americans were sent to Internment camps which were located in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. There were ten camps all-together and 120,000 people filled them (2009). The immigrants were deprived of their traditional respect when their children who were American-born were indorsed authority positions within the camps. 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.
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
“A typical concentration camp consisted of barracks that were secured from escape by barbed wire, watchtowers and guards. The inmates usually lived in overcrowded barracks and slept in bunk “beds”. In the forced labour camps, for
The internment camps were permanent detention camps that held internees from March, 1942 until their closing in 1945 and 1946. Although the camps held captive people of many different origins, the majority of the prisoners were Japanese-Americans. There were ten different relocation centers located across the United States during the war. These Japanese Americans, half of whom were children, were incarcerated for up to 4 years, without due process of law or any factual basis, in bleak, remote camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
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...
...the Japanese-Americans such as their life before coming to the camps, the executive order 9066, and what it was like being in the concentration camps. Japanese life was very similar to how the Americans live. They went to school, and played with friends. The life for the Japanese has never been easy. The order 9066 occurred on February 19, 1942, when President Roosevelt ordered his officials from all levels of the federal government to send tens or thousands of Japanese-Americans into internments. One of the camps that was built was known as the Gila River Relocation Center. It was located in Arizona. There were about 13,000 people in this one camp. The people in the camps dealt with many hardships. The Japanese went through a lot of hardships but in the end they still saw the light at the end of the tunnel and tried to move on with their lives the best they could.
The federal government ruled most of the reasons behind Japanese internment camps. Further than two-thirds of the Japanese who were sentenced to internment camps in the spring of 1942 were in fact United States citizens. The internment camps were the centerpiece for legal confines of minorities. Most camps were exceedingly overcrowded and with deprived living conditions. The conditions included “tarpaper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind.” Unfortunately, coal was very hard to come by for the internees, so most would only have the blankets that were rationed out to sleep on. As for food, the allotment was about 48 cents per internee. This food was served in a mess hall of about 250 people and by other internees. Leadership positions within the camp were only given to the American-born Japanese, or Nisei. Eventually, the government decided that...