Internment Camps: Violations of Human Rights

Executive Order of 9066 Executive Order that allowed the US government to use of internment camps to contain the Japanese into certain areas US government felt this was necessary after the attack on Pearl Harbor, fearing that Japanese Americans would help Japan

Germany, Italy, and Japan were major countries fighting against the US during WWII. Because of this, alongside Japanese Americans, many German and Italian Americans were also sent to internment camps

Nationalism of the US Nationalism- patriotic feeling, principles, or efforts. The US applied the concept of nationalism when they felt they were protecting their country (even though they took away Japanese-Americans basic human rights)

Extreme Nationalism of the US Due to Pearl Harbor, some people in the US developed an extreme form of nationalism by thinking they were better than other countries

Extreme Nationalism

Relocation of Japanese There were a total of 10 camps that the Japanese were moved to They were told only to bring what they could carry – had to leave all other possessions behind About 120,000 Japanese were relocated – most were American citizens “War Relocation Centers”

Camps were mainly in the western part of the United States. US government were particularly concerned with Japanese living on the west coast, closest to Japan

Life in the Camps Camp was surrounded by barbed wire Ate in mess halls, had community bathrooms, lived in cramped quarters Razors, scissors and radios were banned Children were sent to schools, run by US government, taught American ideals

Leaving the Camps Could leave in 1943 if joined US military Roosevelt revoked the order in 1944 and the last camp was closed in 1946

Lasting Impression Korematsu v. United States- lawsuit against the US for harsh treatment during WWII towards Japanese Americans. In 1990 US finally admitted wrong doing US apologized to 60,000 survivors and paid each $20,000