Japanese internment in the 1940's is a part of our history. There are different opinions as to whether or not the Japanese American internment was Constitutional. Japanese American citizens were forced to move, abandon their homes and businesses, and live in camps that were just little more than prisons. The catalyst to this internment was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is the naval base located near Honolulu, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. December 7th, 1941, started out as any other ordinary Sunday morning. The peace and tranquility was short lived because just before 8 a.m. hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the naval base. The largest majority of the American naval fleet was either damaged or destroyed, including the USS Arizona and the USS Oklahoma. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan stating, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” …show more content…
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution gives all Americans “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...” The Japanese Americans were forced from their homes and businesses and therefore, their rights were violated. The Sixth Amendment gives all US citizens “the right to a fair and speedy trial.” The Japanese citizens were held in the internment camps against their will for something that they were perceived to “maybe” have done or something that they “might” do. Although a complete violation of their human rights, Japanese Americans were merely held against their