Japanese American Internment
JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT
FOLLOWING THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR
BY
PAUL JONES
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY
15 JUNE, 2014
On December 7th, 1941, the most horrific attack on American soil, by a foreign power occurred; 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers, dropping their devastating payload upon the unprepared naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Two months after the attack, President Franklin D Roosevelt issued one of the most controversial executive orders in American history, Executive Order 9066. Executive order 9066 gave the Secretary of War the power and discretion to designate “Military Areas”, in the west, from which anyone of suspect could be removed and barred access. Although not specified in the order, it was “understood”, by all those involved, that the order was referring to the Japanese American population. The military commanders, charged with the execution of this order, took it a step further and forcefully relocated nearly 150,000 Japanese Americans to several different internment camps, located throughout the U.S. The forced removal of these people, from their homes, remains, to this day, an embarrassing blemish on America’s political history. Although some agree with the actions of President Roosevelt, most people view this action as unjust and unconstitutional. I don’t believe that we can understand exactly why Executive Order 9066 was issued, without a thorough investigation into the motives and possible biases of those involved in it’s drafting, signing and execution. This paper will focus, primarily, on the possible biases of Franklin Roosevelt and General John Dewitt, and what lead them to believe the internment of Japanese Americans was necessary.
Long before World War II, and the attack on Pearl Harbor, a young Franklin Roosevelt seemed to already be developing a prejudice against the Japanese. Franklin D Roosevelt’s attitudes toward Japan
FOLLOWING THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR
BY
PAUL JONES
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY
15 JUNE, 2014
On December 7th, 1941, the most horrific attack on American soil, by a foreign power occurred; 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers, dropping their devastating payload upon the unprepared naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Two months after the attack, President Franklin D Roosevelt issued one of the most controversial executive orders in American history, Executive Order 9066. Executive order 9066 gave the Secretary of War the power and discretion to designate “Military Areas”, in the west, from which anyone of suspect could be removed and barred access. Although not specified in the order, it was “understood”, by all those involved, that the order was referring to the Japanese American population. The military commanders, charged with the execution of this order, took it a step further and forcefully relocated nearly 150,000 Japanese Americans to several different internment camps, located throughout the U.S. The forced removal of these people, from their homes, remains, to this day, an embarrassing blemish on America’s political history. Although some agree with the actions of President Roosevelt, most people view this action as unjust and unconstitutional. I don’t believe that we can understand exactly why Executive Order 9066 was issued, without a thorough investigation into the motives and possible biases of those involved in it’s drafting, signing and execution. This paper will focus, primarily, on the possible biases of Franklin Roosevelt and General John Dewitt, and what lead them to believe the internment of Japanese Americans was necessary.
Long before World War II, and the attack on Pearl Harbor, a young Franklin Roosevelt seemed to already be developing a prejudice against the Japanese. Franklin D Roosevelt’s attitudes toward Japan