World War II brought many things to the United States: an end to the Great Depression, a strong sense of nationalism, and a large economic boom. However, it also brought the Japanese American Internment Camps, a dark piece of America’s history. Japanese American Internment Camps relocated many people of Japanese descent to enclosed camps. Immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, any and all Japanese Americans were viewed as suspicious and untrustworthy. Americans were paranoid during this time period, and would do anything to keep their country safe from foreign powers. The Japanese American Internment Camps left an impact on the United States and is an essential part of World War II history.
Background Information
Since Japanese
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The majority of Europeans could hide their nationality and religion by disguising themselves as Americans. Asians could not disguise their distinctive facial features, and their customs differed greatly from the white Americans and Europeans. This put a target on them and created tension between the two groups. On December 7, 1941 Japan attacks the naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Tension rose rapidly and Americans became fearful of their Japanese American neighbors. Author Wendy Ng writes, “The government’s first reaction after Pearl Harbor was to ready the country for war by examining the ‘enemy alien problem.’” (Ng 14). The government is a direct reflection of the American population. During this time, the entire nation was fueled by paranoia and patriotism. The government’s actions reflected how caucasians viewed Japanese Americans and gives a motive for placing them in internment camps. Suspicions continued to grow and by 1942, Roosevelt was signing a bill to relocate “suspicious” characters to the internment …show more content…
As aforementioned, the government reflects the views of the public, so passing this order made an impact on American morals and culture. It made being afraid of a specific ethnicity normal and it was expected. These internment camps displayed America’s fatal flaws. It showed the large scale racism and fear that a strong country should not be displaying. Japanese Internment Camps brought out the nation’s weaknesses right before this country would become very strong after the war. While racism and paranoia show the great importance of the camps, the people evacuated display the bigger impact the camps had on American
As opposed to righteous view that America was safeguarding its position in the war, the Japanese American internments were created out of resentment and racial prejudice fostered by other Americans. As the article “Personal Justice Denied” stated, the internments were led by “widespread ignorance of Japanese Americans contributed to a policy conceived in haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan” (Doc E, 1983). It may seem like a precautionary cause to make internments but there aren’t any other extreme measures for other fronts. Caused by a hatred stirred by media and society’s view, many people disdain the Japanese.
Internment camps were common in many countries during World War 2, including America. The Japanese-Americans were interned out of fear from Pearl Harbor and, although the conditions weren’t terrible, the aftermath was hard to overcome. Along with the Japanese-Americans, our American soldiers were also interned in Japan, but in harsher conditions and aftermaths. The camps, no matter how unpleasant, were turning points for both internees. While reading Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, these points are obvious.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 initiated the United States to be part of, what became, World War II. The attack brought feelings of fear about national security to the United States citizens, causing President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066, which required the internment of Japanese Americans. The Japanese American internment camps played a significant, lasting role in Japanese and American history as many people still learn about the event today. The amount of racism that Japanese Americans experienced during World War II can be compared to the amount of racism all Asian Americans have encountered recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic Although many people have a basic understanding of this event, most discussions
Akiko Kurose, who was 16 and attending a Seattle high school at the time, described when, after the Pearl Harbor attack, “one of the teachers said, ‘You people bombed Pearl Harbor’”, referencing Akiko’s Japanese heritage (Document 1). If, indeed, this was the general feeling of all non-Japanese Americans, than it is easy to see how amassed public hatred could lead to the internment of the hated. The government was even aware of the minimal threat posed by the interned—The Munson Report, delivered to President Roosevelt by his Special Representative of the States Department, Charles Munson, has such a statement as follows, “There is no Japanese ‘problem’ on the Coast. There will be no armed uprising of Japanese” (Document 4). And Mary Tsukamoto, who was an American of Japanese heritage, was forced in 1942 to an internment camp with her husband and child, leaving their strawberry farm behind, described her shock, “We couldn't believe that they would need all of us to quit our work to produce our fruit, food for victory... and then be put away”(Document 3).
On December 7th, 1941, Japan launched one of the most devastating attacks that occurred on United States soil killing over 2000 citizens. Ironically, the death of these citizens resulted in the United States government violating the rights of over 100,000 Japanese Americans living along the Pacific Coast. The attack on Pearl harbor exacerbated the already present anti-Japanese sentiment within the United States resulting in the removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans in internment camps. This historiographical essay will examine the trends of historical thought regarding Japanese internment during World War II examining sources chronologically by publication date from 1972 to 2017. Early historiographical interpretations, referred to
After the attack on Pearl Harbor discrimination against Japanese Americans was greatly increased. Many people were suspicious of Japanese American involvement “Fear, and suspicion grew of the sizeable Japanese American community in the U.S” (Japanese American Internment). These suspicions combined with the already present racism against Japanese fueled the idea of Japanese internment, greatly violating their civil rights “Based on those fears, combined with a long history of anti-Japanese immigrant sentiment, the U.S. government forced more than 110,000 Japanese Americans living along the West Coast into
They were put into camps in the middle of nowhere. Their so-called “house” was poorly built, they had very thin walls, the house always leaked whenever it rained, they had to make their own furniture, the food wasn’t very good, and there was a fence keeping them in. Many people died trying to get out of the camps. Many innocent people were taken into these camps, a lot were even arrested.
On December 8th, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt branded Japan as an infamous enemy, a target that must and would be defeated. In February of 1942, FDR issued Executive Order 9066, initiating internment camps in America. Thousands of people with Japanese ancestry were rounded up and unceremoniously forced into sites across the country. Whole families lives were uprooted for what the government called “military necessity”. Sixty-two percent of those imprisoned were citizens of the United States.
These guys felt the blunt force of discrimination during this time. Japanese-Americans were forced into one of ten permanent camps. This was the result of Executive Order 9066 and Pearl Harbor. These camps were given the name internment camps. The point of internment was to test the loyalty of the Japanese-Americans.
This then caused World War II. The United State’s government then built isolation camps and made the japanese citizens stay in these camps. The Japanese- American Internment Camps impacted United States history through the rupture of the United States government and japanese citizens. The Japanese American Internment camps had a big impact on the United States because it caused separation between Japan and the United States (Daine 8,9).
The internment of Japanese Americans during WWII was not justified. After Pearl Harbor, many Americans were scared of the Japanese Americans because they could sabotage the U.S. military. To try and solve the fear President Franklin D Roosevelt told the army in Executive order 9066 to relocate all Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. They were relocated to detention centers in the desert. Many of them were in the detention centers for three years.
Furthermore, the United States should do more to compensate the families of those impacted by internment because the recompense provided initially was minimal and should be considered an affront to the memory of the victims. Prior to World War II, the 127,000 Japanese-Americans along America’s west coast (Japanese American Relocation and Internment Camps) were considered just another immigrant group coming to America searching for a better life. However, with the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, this perception soon saw a drastic change. The attack on the US Naval base on December 7th, 1941 left many casualties in its wake.
It was born out of wartime hysteria, not factual evidence. Instead of mass relocation, the American government should have dealt with the situation with selective internment. This means that only the Japanese people who showed a threat would be relocated. It would have resulted in a much more effective and fair way of relocation and internment. The oppressiveness that the government expressed during World War 2 can be synthesized to the oppressiveness of World War 1.
December 7th of 1941 America would face a horrific scene in their own homeland, the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor with their Air Force not once but twice. That same day President John F. Kennedy would decide to place the Japanese Americans, living in the country at the time, in internment camps. The civilians would not have a clue what they would be put up against, now they would have to encounter various obstacles to make sure they would be able to survive. “The camps were prisons, with armed soldiers around the perimeters, barbed wire. and controls over every aspect of life”(Chang).
Japanese internment camps made us question who was really an American and it relates to today’s issues. Internment camps were similar to concentration camps or prison and Japanese-Americans were put into them. Even though they were considered Americans, they were still treated unfairly by other Americans. So who is American?