Japanese Internment Camps

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, fear that Japanese Americans were now the enemy sent the U.S. into chaos. Many feared that cases of espionage and sabotage would start happening, so President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, to prevent these acts from ever occurring. The military then began to create military zones in California, Oregon, and Washington, all places on the West Coast with a large Japanese population. The fear that the Japanese were dangerous even spread to Canada and Mexico. Both countries sent many Japanese to America to have them placed in internment camps. After nearly 117,000 Japanese Americans reported to their military zones on the West Coast, they were to be sent to an internment camp.

All of the Japanese Internment camps that were created were placed farther inland in states such as Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona. There was fear that if the Japanese remained on the West Coast, they would be a threat to the citizens. Thus, many Japanese were torn away from their homes and businesses and forced to live in a completely new environment. The Internment camps were situated in remote areas far away from towns or cities. Many camps had few rooms, and demanded that the Japanese sleep in horse stalls or cow sheds. Due to the intention of placing the Japanese in a camp quickly, proper housing was not established.

Even in Hawaii, the Japanese faced similar treatment. The Honouliuli internment camp was set up not far away from Pearl Harbor. Even though the Japanese made up a very large population of Hawaii, there was discrimination and many Japanese were sent away. This was done on a much smaller scale however. Church leaders, business owners, and students from Japan were often the target. Many others were spared just so the workforce wouldn’t crumble.

Initially, when creating the idea of Internment Camps, it was proposed that those of Italian or German descent also be placed into those camps. This idea was rejected because they didn’t want to target Americans of European descent. However, it was easier for the military leaders to agree that Japanese were a threat and should be removed.

Despite the cooperation that the Japanese gave towards the military when it came to giving up everything, there was some resistance. One Japanese American argued that the internment camps weren’t constitutional. In Endo v. the United States, it was ruled that the War Relocation Authority “has no authority to subject citizens who are concededly loyal to its leave procedure.” However, this ruling was not widespread. It only applied to Mitsuye Endo, but she declined, wanting to wait until all Japanese Americans could be free.

After nearly 3 years of living in closed communities, President Roosevelt finally began to close the internment camps. The final Japanese Internment camp closed in March 1946. Despite the struggles they faced from the U.S. government, the Japanese weren’t given much to restart their lives. Once the Japanese returned to their communities, they discovered most of their property was taken, and that their communities weren’t very friendly towards them. The government didn’t apologize initially. However, in 1976, President Ford said that the internment was a setback to fundamental American principles. Later, in 1988, each serving interned Japanese American received $20,0000 as an apology from the government. Even though the Japanese struggled immensely due to the government, it’s good to see that they received some compensation, even if it can’t fix all the pain that they went through from the internment.


Sources:https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/03/16/393284680/in-hawaii-a-wwii-internment-camp-named-national-monument
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/injustice-japanese-americans-internment-camps-resonates-strongly-180961422/
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/09/210138278/japanese-internment-redress