Japanese Internment

Before the Camps After Pearl Harbor, mobs attacked Japanese-American businesses and homes. Banks would not cash their checks Despite evidence, many Jap. Am were suspected of being loyal to their homeland Anti-Japanese paranoia increased on West Coast because of their large presence

Executive Power In times of crisis, gov. oversteps its boundaries, takes away individual liberties Executive order 9066

Life’s Possessions Gone Many Jap. Am. were instructed to pack up what they could, sell their homes, businesses, possessions for a small sum Had only a few weeks to pack Had no idea where they were going, how long they would be gone

Relocation Assembly Centers- Evacuees sent to hastily built centers at racetracks and athletic fields War Relocation Centers- Sent to more permanent camps when finished being built Ten camps built to hold roughly 110,000 Jap. Am. forced to leave their homes

“The first morning in Manzanar when I woke up and saw what Manzanar looked like, I just cried. And then I saw the high Sierra mountains, just like my native country’s mountain, and I just cried, that’s all.”

Assembly Centers

Barracks Surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards Up to 8 individuals were housed in 20 by 25 foot room, with 4 rooms to each barrack. Each barrack had an oil stove, a single hanging light bulb and cots

Eleanor Roosevelt Eleanor visits camps, recommends we end Jap. Int. FDR allows some Japs to gain work permits or enlist in Army 33,000 served in Army, had to take loyalty oath 1/3 of Jap. Am. Able to leave camps by 1943

Japanese Released Allowed to go back home in early 1945 Civil Liberties Act (1988) gave each person $20,000 and a formal apology

Korematsu v The United States Argued his Civil Rights had been violated He lost Relocation was ok because he was living in a military zone Relocation based on “military urgency” not race Received apology from White House in 1998