Japanese Internment Camps

Since the Japanese American internment camps were formed two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor the American people were accepting to these camps being formed. Due to most American peoples felt that the peoples of Japanese decent were an immediate threat to the American way of life. The dislike for the Japanese was expressed in many different ways. For one immigration restrictions and naturalization laws that barred the Japanese from obtaining citizenship were enacted Not all Americans were accepting of the treating that the Japanese was receiving black Americans and Jewish American also groups that were being discriminated against that this time  were outrage by these camps being formed. While fighting for their own rights these groups including the cause of Japanese.

On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066 allowing Japanese Americans be removed from their homes and placed in internment camps (J. Willard Library).  This was a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the fear of another attack on the West coast.  Within the next year 120,000 Japanese were forced from their homes into ten military camps were opened across the West in Colorado, California, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah and Arkansas (Historyonthenet).  The camp in Manzanar, CA was the first to open on March 21 1942 and had a peak population of 10,046.  The last camp to close was in Tule Lake, CA which closed on March 20, 1946.  This camp had a peak population of 18,789. (HistoryontheNet).  Prisoners were sent to Tula Lake if they were seen as trouble makers, or if they were suspected of disloyalty to America.

Conditions in the internment camps were harsh, and many prisoners were children.  Some prisoners died from lack on medical care (Historyonthenet).  Many possessions were lost as people were forced to leave businesses and homes behind.

In 1988 the Civil Liberties Act was passed.  This gave a sort of restitution for the prisoners in the internment camps.  This act intended to acknowledge and apologize on behalf of the government and American people for the injustices inflicted upon Japanese Americans (Randall).  This also provides restitution for any personal property taken or destroyed during that time, up to 20,000 (Randall).

Sources

Randall, Vernellia.  University of Dayton.  Internment of Japanese American in Concentration Camps      Civil Liberties Act of 1988, "Restitution for World War II internment of Japanese-Americans and          Aleuts," 50 App. USCA s 1989, 50 App. USCA s 198       Retrieved at    http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/intern01.htm#Civil Liberties Act of

History on the Net.  World War Two- Japanese Internment Camps in the USA. Last Updated 02/01/2011.             Retrieved at http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/japan_internment_camps.htm.

J. Willard Marriott Library.  The University of Utah .Japanese-American Internment Camps during           WWII. Retrieved at     http://www.lib.utah.edu/portal/site/marriottlibrary/menuitem.350f2794f84fb3b29cf87354d1e  916b9/?vgnextoid=2f2b1c769fcfb110VgnVCM1000001c9e619bRCRD

World Wide Web http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/canadianhistory/camps/internment1.html, February 19, 2011

Greenberg, C. (1995). Black and Jewish responses to Japanese internment. Journal of American Ethnic History, 14(2), 3. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Ward, J. (2007).

 "No Jap Crow": Japanese Americans Encounter the World War II South. Journal of Southern History, 73(1), 75-104. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.