Japanese Internment Camps
The Internment of Japanese Americans
The internment of Japanese Americans is an example of how one historical event can influence the start of another. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor created fear throughout the nation. Newspaper articles depicted Americans of Japanese descent as untrustworthy and a danger to the nation. They warned that Japanese Americans were serving as spies for their mother country. As hysteria grew, eventually all persons of Japanese descent living on the West Coast, including those born in the United States, were forced into internment camps from the spring of 1942 till 1946. Japanese Americans were separated from their families, robbed of their livelihood, and denied their human rights. It took the United States …show more content…
They were the first group that endured mandatory removal (Chronology of War World II Incarceration).
As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, many families faced separation. The FBI immediately began arresting Japanese American community leaders. The Justice Department detained over 2,000 Issei (first generation of immigrant Japanese Americans) and denied them the right to a fair trial (“Dear Miss Breed: Letter from Camp”). Over two-thirds of the Issei remained separated from their families during the duration of the war, and the others were reunited with their families in the internment camps (“Dear Miss Breed: Letter from Camp”).
West Coast media and politicians were major contributors to the internment of Japanese Americans. In California, anti-Oriental forces worked to create legislation against the Japanese (Schlenker). Six weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the San Diego Union published its first article arguing for the removal of the Japanese from the coastal area (Schlenker). In February of 1942, the National City Defense Council passed a resolution that the “federal government’s removal and incarceration of Japanese aliens proved that they were dangerous” (Schlenker). The California Cities advised for all of its members to pass similar resolutions (Schlenker). Governor Culbert L. Olson wanted approval …show more content…
De Witt viewed the Japanese as an enemy race (Schlenker). On February 13, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from the West Coast congressional delegation, advising for the removal of all Japanese from California, Oregon, Washington, and the Territory of Alaska (Schlenker). On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9006 (see Appendix A). This order granted Secretary of War Henry Stimson the authority to remove civilians from “military zones” (Parks).
Anti-Japanese forces were determined to remove all those with Japanese ancestry from California. In March the Board of Supervisors of San Diego passed a resolution urging the internment of the Japanese. They argued that Japanese residents had aided the attackers at Pearl Harbor and it wasn’t possible to differentiate a loyal Japanese Americans from the disloyal.
On March 11, General De Witt established the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA). With the help of the WCCA, General DeWitt was able to organize and oversee the evacuations. Instructions directed towards “all persons of Japanese Ancestry” were posted in newspapers and public places throughout the San Francisco area (Parks). They were to be “evacuated from the above designated area by 12:00 noon Tuesday, April 7, 1942. These notices informed evacuees on what to bring. On April 7, 1942, eleven hundred and fifty Isei (Japanese immigrants) and Nisei (American-born Japanese person) boarded trains and left San
The internment of Japanese Americans is an example of how one historical event can influence the start of another. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor created fear throughout the nation. Newspaper articles depicted Americans of Japanese descent as untrustworthy and a danger to the nation. They warned that Japanese Americans were serving as spies for their mother country. As hysteria grew, eventually all persons of Japanese descent living on the West Coast, including those born in the United States, were forced into internment camps from the spring of 1942 till 1946. Japanese Americans were separated from their families, robbed of their livelihood, and denied their human rights. It took the United States …show more content…
They were the first group that endured mandatory removal (Chronology of War World II Incarceration).
As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, many families faced separation. The FBI immediately began arresting Japanese American community leaders. The Justice Department detained over 2,000 Issei (first generation of immigrant Japanese Americans) and denied them the right to a fair trial (“Dear Miss Breed: Letter from Camp”). Over two-thirds of the Issei remained separated from their families during the duration of the war, and the others were reunited with their families in the internment camps (“Dear Miss Breed: Letter from Camp”).
West Coast media and politicians were major contributors to the internment of Japanese Americans. In California, anti-Oriental forces worked to create legislation against the Japanese (Schlenker). Six weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the San Diego Union published its first article arguing for the removal of the Japanese from the coastal area (Schlenker). In February of 1942, the National City Defense Council passed a resolution that the “federal government’s removal and incarceration of Japanese aliens proved that they were dangerous” (Schlenker). The California Cities advised for all of its members to pass similar resolutions (Schlenker). Governor Culbert L. Olson wanted approval …show more content…
De Witt viewed the Japanese as an enemy race (Schlenker). On February 13, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from the West Coast congressional delegation, advising for the removal of all Japanese from California, Oregon, Washington, and the Territory of Alaska (Schlenker). On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9006 (see Appendix A). This order granted Secretary of War Henry Stimson the authority to remove civilians from “military zones” (Parks).
Anti-Japanese forces were determined to remove all those with Japanese ancestry from California. In March the Board of Supervisors of San Diego passed a resolution urging the internment of the Japanese. They argued that Japanese residents had aided the attackers at Pearl Harbor and it wasn’t possible to differentiate a loyal Japanese Americans from the disloyal.
On March 11, General De Witt established the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA). With the help of the WCCA, General DeWitt was able to organize and oversee the evacuations. Instructions directed towards “all persons of Japanese Ancestry” were posted in newspapers and public places throughout the San Francisco area (Parks). They were to be “evacuated from the above designated area by 12:00 noon Tuesday, April 7, 1942. These notices informed evacuees on what to bring. On April 7, 1942, eleven hundred and fifty Isei (Japanese immigrants) and Nisei (American-born Japanese person) boarded trains and left San