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Japanese American Internment Camps Essay

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On December 7th 1941, the Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor. Over 2,000 people died, creating mass hysteria and panic throughout America. The media quickly moved to further both fear and prejudice against Japanese, with racist propaganda being dispensed almost everywhere. Homes of Japanese citizens were raided while government officials took radios, flashlights and anything else they thought could be used to signal the enemy. Racism against Japanese citizens was rampant, with them being ”demonized as spies, saboteurs and enemy agents” (Behind the Wire). Some Japanese Americans, that were community leaders and seen as immediate suspects were arrested quickly and without due process. In February of the next year, President Roosevelt signed …show more content…

U.S. soldiers and police officers raided homes and confiscated radios, flashlights, anything that could be used to signal the enemy. They also confiscated any pieces of Japanese culture, even pictures of family members wearing traditional japanese clothing. According to ‘Iamanamerican.weebly.com. “In essence, the FBI was basing its searches of the houses of over 100,000 people on the basis of their national origin, and no evidence of disloyalty to the United States whatsoever” (Japanese American Rights in Regard to Interment). Japanese Americans were also forced to sell their homes and businesses within a week of their evacuation order, many being forced to “sell their property at a severe loss before departure” (Japanese-American Relocation). They earned a fraction of what their property was really worth, due to the short notice of evacuation. Bess K. Chin recalls her feelings of leaving everything behind to go live in the camps. In an interview for Telling Their Stories she says the events were “...Traumatic. We had no idea where we were going and we were told just to take the one suitcase. The notice says ‘camp life’ and they told us exactly what to take, in terms of bringing your own dishes. I remember that ”(Telling Their Stories). Although Executive order 9066 was presented for the safety of the public, the government violated several other rights of Japanese Americans, based solely on their

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This executive order, misplaced thousands of American citizens all because they had a Japanese background. This order gave local authorities, the right to relocate Japanese American citizens to local camps. They were also given the authority to run these camps in the best way they saw fit (Executive Order 9066). Japanese Americans were given orders and a report date as well as a location to where they would report. They were told to only bring what they could carry and were limited to one bag per person.

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It highlights the devastating impact of the internment on Japanese Americans and their communities. The document describes the loss of homes, businesses, and personal belongings, as well as the disruption of families and communities. It also reveals that despite the government's assertion of military necessity, no evidence of espionage or sabotage by Japanese Americans was ever found. This challenges Justice Black's perspective that the internment was justified by military necessity. Furthermore, document E shows that Executive Order 9066 and the subsequent internment of Japanese Americans during World War II did indeed represent a significant infringement of civil rights.

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932 Words | 4 Pages

The Fourth Amendment declares “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The two main points being the “lack of probable cause” and the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects”. It should be noted that due to the hastiness of the relocation, many Japanese-Americans made ill-prepared financial decisions that led to an unnecessary loss of money, possessions, and land, in which some of it that was lost is now valued to be worth millions of dollars. While the government claimed there was evidence of some Japanese-American involvement in espionage, there was no concrete accusation put forth. In, addition some Japanese-Americans left their families behind in the internment camps to go and fight in the US armed forces during World War II.

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1552 Words | 7 Pages

Similar to the implications of Executive Order 9066, Executive 9012 would drastically change the lives of Japanese Americans and the landscape of the United States. Firstly, the order contributed to the relocation process for Japanese Americans by applying new strategies to force them into internment camps Executive Order 9102 created the War Relocation Authority, which established the “orderly evacuation of designated persons living in the restricted military area” (Gallivan). In essence, it worked in concert with the previous executive order as a way to efficiently remove Japanese Americans from their current residences. The process of sending Japanese Americans to new War Relocation Authority camps was painful and arduous (Aitken). The burdensome removal process and the disruption of Japanese Americans’ lives ultimately contributed to the deleterious treatment towards Japanese

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496 Words | 2 Pages

The West Coast housed a large number of Japanese-Americans, but it was turned into militarized areas with internment facilities. Japanese Americans in these camps lived a military-style life, being required to stay in barracks or cramped living spaces with no running water, dine in large mess halls, and have little privacy. This change demonstrated how Executive Order 9066 greatly affected the lives and well-being of Japanese Americans, emphasizing the loss of civil rights during this troubling time. Even though the National Archives document includes the precise document of Executive Order 9066, it fails to illustrate the day-to-day challenges faced by Japanese-Americans in the internment camps. This restriction necessitates the use of a second source to achieve a more profound perception of the individual repercussions of these camps.

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758 Words | 4 Pages

With this order, Roosevelt mandated to federal troops that between 110,00 and 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast be relocated into internment camps that were almost always in the middle of nowhere (Doc. 3). Japanese-Americans lost everything as a result of this; they had to quickly sell their homes and businesses within a matter of a few days and could only take what they could carry to the camps. This is solid proof that Japanese lost rights due to the war rather than being given an opportunity to advance economically or

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972 Words | 4 Pages

They had to pack all their things and Document D states “Evacuees were each allowed to bring only one duffel bag and two suitcases; all other possessions were to be sold or stored…be sold at a fair price; however, businesses, homes, cars, and other items were sold quickly.” Document D also shows stores that the Japanese Americans had to sell and the second picture shows all the Japanese Americans gathered with their luggage waiting to go on the bus to Manzanar internment camps. These pieces of evidence prove that the Japanese went through a lot with the process and concept of the internment camps. And after they got to the camps They also had to keep security so that there wouldn't be any problems. Document A shows a soldier with a gun standing outside the houses and by the looks of it, the image of the house appeared to be in a line formation and the houses looked very small and were surrounded by dirt.

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808 Words | 4 Pages

On December 6th, 1941, America was a neutral power in what became known as World War Two. The next day, the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor, one of America’s major naval strongholds in the Pacific. The attack was by surprise and left around 2,100 Americans dead with an additional 2,000 wounded, and decimated America’s naval capability with 18 ships destroyed. After this, of course, America was no longer neutral—war was declared only a few days later, and her citizens were struck with a sudden sense of both fear and fury, a mixture of emotion that helped lead to the later internment of Japanese-Americans in the West and Midwest United States. With Japan as a primary enemy in the war, Americans made the mistake of viewing even Japanese-American

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521 Words | 3 Pages

“The internment of Japanese Americans in the United States was the forced relocation and incarceration during World War II of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast in camps in the interior of the country.” (Crawford 1). After the attack, the government felt threatened by the Japanese. Therefore, they could not trust any, even the ones living in the United States. Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps or military camps where they were not allowed to leave.

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547 Words | 3 Pages

Japanese Internment (Executive Order 9066) Have you ever thought what happened back then,why war happened so much? Well there is one war there is one war I learned about, it’s the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was mostly a between Japan and America. Also the united States not trusting the Japanese Americans and putting them into 10 different internment camps because of the bombing. Although Japanese Internment camps were caused by political,cultural, and economic factors, the most important causal factor was political.

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1360 Words | 6 Pages

December 1941 acted as a catalyst for one of the worst atrocities in history. When Japan bombed America’s naval base at Pearl Harbor, they set off an effect that would leave a vast majority of Americans fearful for when the next attack may occur on their homeland. At the face of pressure, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that would forcibly remove those of Japanese ancestry from their households, and place them into internment camps. Many Japanese were given less than a week to pack up the lives they have grown accustomed to. Over 110,000 Japanese and Japanese American citizens were stripped of their freedom and forced to relocate.

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792 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, Document 3 indicates “I can now understand how an eagle feels when his wings are clipped and caged. Beyond the bars of his prison lies the wide expanse of clouds, the wide, wide, fields of brush and woods--limitless space for the pursuit of Life itself”. During their imprisonment in the camps they felt as if they had no freedom, or a sense of home.comfortability was a challenge for many Japanese americans because their living conditions were inadequate especially since it was cramped, it had poor maintenance and other types of abuse. The Japanese Americans were kept in inhumane conditions in the imprisonment of the concentration camps In document 4 it also provides , “Many people had to live in the horse stables. These were places where the racehorses were kept.

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1580 Words | 7 Pages

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, an American naval base in Hawaii, was attacked. The attack was launched by the Japanese Empire in an effort to weaken the US’s pacific military fleet because Japan was planning on invading China, one of America’s allies. The attack on Pearl Harbor was extremely concerning for many Americans because the US had never been attacked by a foreign nation before, aside from the Revolutionary War. As a result of this increase in concern, the US joined World War ll and Japanese- Americans became the victim of lots of scrutiny. Slowly Americans of Japanese descent had their rights stripped away.

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1317 Words | 6 Pages

Even before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, Japanese Americans were discriminated against because of their race. During World War ll, the United States was also at war with Germany and Italy, but German and Italian Americans were not experiencing the same unfair treatment that Japanese Americans endured. This was because of their race. For example, in an editorial in The Crisis periodical, Harry Paxton Howard wrote in September of 1942, “Color seems to be the only possible reason why thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry are in concentration camps. Anyway, there are no Italian-American, or German-American citizens in such camps” (Document E).

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643 Words | 3 Pages

On December 7th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service proposed a surprise bombing on the United States naval base. This attack changed the life of many Japanese Americans. Not only did this attack make America more involved with World War II, but President Franklin D. Roosevelt also issued executive order 9066. The order relocated over 100 thousand Japanese Americans, due to fear, war hysteria, and racism. Japanese Americans were feared upon by the government because they were thought to be “spies”.

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