Japanese Internment camps were a terrible addition to American history. They were built for the sole purpose to keep Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans away from the public due to fear of Pearl Harbor happening once again. The living conditions in the camps were brutal. Camps lasted for a few years, and prisoners were finally released, but to live a life full of trauma.
On March 31, 1942, any Americans living on the west coast that were at least 1/16 Japanese had four days to 2 weeks to pack up their belongings and sell any property before they were taken away to an internment camp where they would be for a long period of time. This was because of the bombing of Pearl harbor just a year earlier, President Roosevelt was mortified that this horrible bombing might occur again, so he signed Executive Order 9066. This allowed the US military to take whoever they wanted out and away from their own home. (“Japanese Internment Camps”).
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DeWitt made false accusations against Japanese Americans, claiming that a large explosion of a powerline was some sort of sabotage by the Japanese Americans in the area, but was later proven to just be grazing cattle that damaged the power line. DeWitt, as you can imagine, was also scared of the Pearl Harbor attacks being repeated. (“Japanese American Internment”).
The US Military pulled Japanese Americans away from their homes, but they also pulled some people that immigrated from places like Europe. They were sent to many different camps in places like Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and more. The very first internment camp was placed in California. Some camps in Arizona were placed on Native American Land, which forced them to move. These camps, as you can tell, were mostly in the west. They were surrounded by barbed wire with no way of escape. (“Japanese American