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

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 internment and cruel treatment of the Japanese in the U.S. stemmed from a fear of a full-pledged invasion from Japan and also from years of racial prejudice

“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.

Americans were very harsh and discriminative of the Japanese. In this image, there is a person with a displeased expression pointing towards the sign that reads, “Japs keep moving, this is a white man’s neighborhood” (Document 3). The fact that the Americans called the Japanese “japs” as a racial slur shows that the Americans did not favor or respect the Japanese Having signs such as those in front of houses just shows how blatant racism was socially acceptable at the time. This is important because the Americans did not treat the Japanese fairly, basically belittling an entire race.To add on, concentration camps are forms of systematic oppression because the government is supporting the separation of races, which in reality should not be justified. By even suggesting putting all Japanese people in concentration camps and saying that it’s a form of being patriotic is cruel and unjust. “...namely, that by permitting himself to be placed in a concentration camp, he would be making his sacrifice, and he should be willing to do it if he is patriotic and working for us” (Document 4). The sacrifice of the Japanese is not a fair comparison because they should not have to choose between life in regret or death. This is the most clear form of racism, considering that they are choosing to put only the Japanese in concentration camps. Overall, the idea and

On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II (Prange et al., 1981: p.174). On February 19, 1942, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War and Military Commanders to prescribe areas of land as excludable military zones (Roosevelt, 1942). Effectively, this order sanctioned the identification, deportation, and internment of innocent Japanese Americans in War Relocation Camps across the western half of the United States. During the spring and summer of 1942, it is estimated that almost 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from their homes along the West Coast and in Hawaii and

     For over a century, the United States has been one of the most powerful and influential states on the globe. However, every nation has made mistakes in its past. Throughout our country’s history, certain groups have had to endure horrible injustices: the enslavement of African-Americans, the removal of Native Americans, and discrimination against immigrants, women, homosexuals, and every other minority. During World War II, the government crossed the line between defending the nation and violating human rights, when it chose to relocate Japanese residents to internment camps. The actions taken by the U.S. government against Japanese Americans and Japanese living in the

While the attack on Pearl Harbor was a devastating time in United States history and the attack being conducted by the Japanese government, it didn’t not justify Japanese Americans being put into internment camps. The fear of a Japanese attack on mainland United States soil prompted the United States government to create these internment camps. Such fear lead to innocent Japanese Americans to live in a way that could be considered inhuman. Of the hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans in the internment camps half of them were children. The conditions of the camps where no way of life and Japanese Americans were forced to live in an undignified life that

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

“ I think of the close friends who are now at the mercy of the cruelest monsters ever to stalk the earth.” This is what Anne Frank wrote about the Nazis in her diary. Although, the Americans weren’t much nicer to the Japanese. During the 1940’s these 2 groups of people,the Jews and Japanese-Americans, were being discriminated against. Though for very different reasons. Nazi concentration camps and Japanese internment camps were not essentially the same thing because Jews weren’t being treated like people, both camps served different purposes, and the Japanese were not being killed like the Jews .

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.

Most Americans know the story of Anne Frank. Most of the atrocities I’ve learned of in various history classes concerning World War II sprang from her diary accounts. Just when I thought I knew all about the "enemy" (Nazis) and the heinous crimes that they inflicted on human beings, other sides of the story were brought to my attention. I came about a book called Farewell to Manzanar which introduced a similar treatment of human beings in our very own country. I discovered that an internment policy was placed on the Japanese that was extremely questionable. My emotions were torn because I could not believe America's leadership could be guilty of snatching such inherent liberties and freedoms. I was intrigued to find out more about the

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

Like all issues involving race or war, the question of whether or not it was legal and ethical to make Japanese Americans move to relocation camps in early WWII is a difficult and controversial problem. The internment of around 50,000 Japanese citizens and approximately 70,000 Japanese-American people born in the U.S. living in the American West Coast has become known as a tragedy and mistake. The government even set up numerous projects to apologize to the American citizens who were wronged (Bosworth). Still, at the time that the decision to relocate was made, the actions were constitutionally legal and seen by many as necessary. The actions were not based on racist feelings. It was, however,

After the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, life in the U.S. had changed. It was the first time in a long time that America was attacked on its homeland. This national security threat was a big shock to the people. The Japanese had to suffer the consequences of their attack. Just as the Germans developed concentration camps for the Jewish during World War II, the Americans set up "relocation" programs better known as internment camps to keep all the Japanese. The reason the Japanese were moved into these camps was because they were suspected of being spies. They were forced to live there for up to four years and were not able to continue with their own lives as they were before while they were living in these camps.