Japanese Internment

Japanese Internment

After Pearl Harbor • TightenedNational Security • Bitterness toward Japanese Americans grows • Government takes action against Japanese Americans within two months of the attack

American Sentiment Toward Japanese Americans • Racist • Did not like or trust them • Undesirable

At home, in the “Land of the Free…” The FBI and U.S. Military intelligence fear espionage and another Japanese Attack! The media propaganda machine starts at full speed

FDR Issues Executive Order 9066 The Internment of all Japanese living in the United States February 19,1942

2/3 were “Nissei” • Born in the United States • 1/3 of Japanese interns were “Issei” • Born in Japan

Evacuees Must: • A responsible member of each family will report to the Civil Control Station between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM on May 24, 1942 • Evacuees must carry with them on departure the following: • Bedding and linens (no mattresses) for each member of the family • Toilet articles • Extra Clothing • Sufficient cutlery • No Pets of any kind • No personal items and no household goods will be shipped.

4,500 Japanese-Americans were interned at the Merced Fairgrounds in 1942

Fresno, Manzanar, Marysville, Merced, Pinedale, Pomona, Sacramento,Salinas, Santa Anita, Stockton, Tanforan, Tulare, Tule Lake, Turlock,

Inside the Camp… Daily life continued… However, camps were located in barren, arid areas that made economic self-sufficiency impossible Camps were fenced in Barracks consisted of several one-room apartments Camps had minimal school and recreation facilities and provided enough medical care to prevent epidemics

Conditions often cramped….very little privacy People shared communal toilets, laundries, bathing and dining facilities

Questioning Internment • Battle of Midway eliminated the threat of a Japanese attempt on the mainland • Newspapers and journals attacked the federal policy of interning Japanese Americans • In 1944 Newspapers exposed the treatment of Japanese Americans in Internment Camps • Justice Frank Murphy opposed internment and called it “Legalization of racism” • No action of removal or relocation was taken against people of German or Italian descent • No single piece of evidence was produced supporting the government’s claims that Japanese Americans would sabotage the United States

Internment Ends • On January 2, 1945, the exclusion order was rescinded entirely. The internees then began to leave the camps to rebuild their lives at home, although the relocation camps remained open for residents who were not ready to make the move back. The freed internees were given $25 and a train ticket to their former homes. While the majority returned to their former lives, some of the Japanese Americans emigrated to Japan. The last internment camp was not closed until 1946

Korematsu vs. The United States • Turn to Page 596 in your textbook and analyze this Supreme Court case. • Answer the following questions: • What was the key conflict in the Korematsu case? • What role did the military play in the Court’s decision? • What did Justice Murphy base his dissent on? • What was the historical impact of this case?

Japanese Internment