The Pros And Cons Of Japanese Internment

The memoir Looking like the Enemy, was written by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald. Set during World War II after the attack upon Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Americans living in Western part of America had a since of betrayal and fear having to evacuate their homes and enter into internment camps. Matsuda’s memoir is based off of her and her family’s experiences in the Japanese-American internment camps. Matsuda reveals what it is like during World War II as a Japanese American, undergoing family life, emotional stress, long term effects of interment, and her patriotism and the sacrifices she had to make being in the internment camps.

I do not think that Roosevelt 's actions were justified in the internment of Japanese-American citizens, because there was very little evidence that the Japanese citizens were a threat to the rest of America. The Executive Order 9066 led to a lot of changes for Japanese-American citizens. The Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt two weeks after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and this authorized the removal of any or all people from military areas "as deemed necessary or desirable." This affected the Japanese-American citizens because the military then defined the entire West Coast, which was home to the majority of Japanese-Americans, as a military area. This then led them to relocate to internment camps, built by the U.S military in scattered locations around the country. For the next two and a half years, many of these Japanese-American citizens endured poor living conditions are poor treatment by their military guards, along with the rest of the country.

One reason why the U.S government’s decision was not justifiable is because many of the Japanese-Americans were innocent people who legally received their American citizenship. For example, in Monica Sone’s “Camp Harmony”,

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.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Americans were fearful of further Japanese attacks on the West Coast and also of Japanese Americans. In response to this fear, President Roosevelt passed an executive order relocating all people of Japanese descent from the West Coast inland. Similar to the fear of the American people, the witch hunts in the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller led people to believe that girls in the town were being bewitched. Mass hysteria caused multiple arrests for accusations and even death for the so called “witches”. The theme of fear in both the Crucible and the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII caused people to be easily persuaded with the use of pathos and logos.

Throughout the history of our country hatred has been common, as Immigrants enter our homeland they are looked down upon and thought of people who are “destroying” this nation. All these new people coming in are only seeking new opportunities but are discouraged by other because of their ancestry. Humanity’s unjust behaviors can be seen in two different aspects of America 's history, we first see it in the internment of the Japanese Americans during WWII and the period of the Salem Witch trials. Arthur Miller’s dramatized play, The Crucible can be correlated to the event of Pearl Harbor because of the similarities between the Japanese Americans and the characters in the play; they both demonstrate the lives of civilians being ruined, a mass hysteria caused by fear of their neighbors, and lack of a just court system.

The internment of Japanese-Americans was justified because there were Japanese suspects. Between ten internment camps in Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas, about 250-300 people in each camp were suspects under surveillance. Only around 50-60 people were actually considered dangerous. “It is easy to get on the suspect list, merely a speech in favor of Japan being sufficient to land one there” (Munson 2). Clearly, America was taking extreme precautions. If they would have let one of them leave, they could have rebelled. This is a main reason why Japanese suspects had to be taken away to keep the United States population safe. “It will be hard for them to get near anything to blow up if it is guarded” (Munson 2).

No innocent people like the Japanese Americans should have been punished or looked as bad people because of their ancestry. The bombing of Pearl Harbor caused the U.S. to fear the Japanese Americans, so they placed them in internment camps. Japanese Americans shouldn’t of been punished because most of them were born and raised on the West Coast. The condition of the camps were often not pleasant. Japanese Americans were viewed as alien and untrustworthy, and isolated from others. Life of a Japanese American was harsh and scary because you never knew what the mad people would do.

As a kid, I’ve heard about Japanese internment and it captivated me. My grandma would tell me how life was like in the internment camp. My fascination with Japanese internment lead me to choose it for National History Day. I wanted to learn more about this important mark in US History. My grandparents, Tom Inouye and Jane Hideko Inouye were put through this so I decided what better way to learn about it while presenting it as a project.

The Japanese Americans were treated unfairly during their captivation in the internment camps. The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US into the second World War making the Japanese people an easy target for hate and suspicion. The American government forced all Japanese Americans into internment camps that were extremely cramped and unsanitary. The anti-Japanese propaganda influenced by the raging war just outside America, fueled Americans with hatred and distrust towards these immigrants which in turn made the engagement of the Japanese people, as well as culture such an easy feat.

In the 1940’s there is no doubt that the United States of America was engulfed by mass anti-Japanese hysteria which inevitably bled over into America’s foreign policy. During this period Japanese people living in both Japan and the United States of America were seen as less that human. Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were savagely and unjustifiably uprooted from their daily lives. These Japanese-Americans were pulled from their jobs, schools, and home only to be pushed to

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. Even at the high levels of government, officials share similar prejudices. In this sense, there was very

On December 7, 1941, Japanese Imperial Navy Air Forces unexpectedly attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. This sent a vast majority of the citizens into a state of fear. Americans were fearful that the Japanese living in the U.S were spies for Japan and they were planning the next attack on the United States. A political cartoon by Dr.Seuss illustrates those of Japanese descent from different states, waiting in line to receive TNT (“Waiting for the Signal From Home…”). Dr.Seuss was arguing that the Japanese are infiltrating the U.S as spies for Japan, and they are waiting for a signal from home to initiate their next attack on the U.S. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many citizens were suspicious of anyone from Japanese heritage. A vast majority of Americans lost a sense of trust towards the Japanese. Citizens were convinced that the Japanese were being recruited as spies and they would be more likely to sympathize and support Japan. Americans argued that the nation would be safer if all Japanese immigrants and Japanese American citizens were removed. Citizens saw the Japanese as a threat to their security because they were fearful of what could come next. Americans believed that the Japanese were coming to America to take over their country. “They run their stores. They clerk in stores. They clip lawns. They are here, there and everywhere,” (McLemore). Many of those

After the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States was very angry at Japan for the tragic bombing and killing thousands of citizens. They were also scared that Japan would carry out another attack on the country. As a result of mixed emotions the United States, lead by president Franklin Roosevelt decided that internment would be the best option for the nation to feel at ease and not be angry anymore. This meant that all Japanese Americans who live on the West Coast would be confined into camps with each other. More than 20 years later, in February 1983, Congress released a report written on internment and on the war. This report, “Personal Justice Denied: The Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians’’, focused on what had lead up to the decision to intern Japanese Americans and what happened afterward. In an excerpt released from the report reads, “Widespread ignorance of Japanese Americans contributed to a policy conceived in haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan” (Document F). In other words, the idea of interning Japanese Americans came from fear and anger. This was an emotional decision, not a strategic one because Japanese Americans were not a danger to the United States and the citizens. Above all, the internment of Japanese Americans in 1942 was an emotional decision done out of fear and

Over 127,000 United States citizens were imprisoned during World War II. Their crime? Being of Japanese ancestry. In 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor close to Honolulu, Hawaii 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).