The Internment of the Japanese Americans

1
The Internment of the Japanese Americans

• Presented by A. Z.

2
Purpose for Research

• What happened in the internment camps where the
  Japanese of America were sent? Why were they
  relocated in the first place?

3
Events Leading to Internment

• The Japanese and Japanese-American were sent to
  internment camps after the Japanese attacked
  Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• America feared Japan at the time, leading them to
  believe that all the Japanese were spies for
  Japan and the Axis Powers.

4
Opposition of the Relocation for American Japanese

• The Japanese Americans showed that they were true
  patriots by joining up and reciting the Pledge
  of Allegiance and singing patriotic songs such
  as The Star-Spangled Banner.
• Various people were apt to aid the Japanese who
  lived in America, such as J. Edgar Hoover, an FBI
  Director, and Franklin Roosevelts own wife,
  Eleanor Roosevelt, who was unsuccessful in
  privately persuading him not to sign it.

5
Order and Signing for Interment of Japanese
Americans

• Roosevelt stood his ground and went on to sign
  the order that would imprison many Americans of
  Japanese ancestry.
• The signing of Executive Order 9066 by President
  Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 forced
  all Japanese ethnic groups to internment camps by
  use of his Commander-In-Chief war powers.
• The order led approximately 120,000 ethnic
  Japanese peoples and Americans with Japanese
  relatives to be sent to internment camps.

6
People Sent to Internment Camps

• 62 of the people relocated were Nisei,
  American-born with Japanese heritage, and Sansei,
  the children of the Nisei. They were American
  citizens. The rest (38) were Issei, the
  Japanese-born immigrants.
• Most of the relocated peoples were of the West
  Coast, due to the location of the Pearl Harbor
  attack.

7
Condition of the Internment Camps

• The 1943 War Relocation Authority reported the
  internees were housed in tar paper-covered
  barracks of simple frame construction without
  plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind.
• The facilities met international laws, but were
  still cramped and poorly equipped.
• They were built in desolate areas with severe,
  harsh weather conditions.

8
Life in Internment Camps

• The internees, the Japanese and their heirs, were
  allowed to stay with their families and were
  treated well by guards save they violated rules.
• Because they came from the West Coast, most of
  the internees did not have clothes adequately
  warm enough for Wyomings cold weather.

9
Life in Internment Camps Cont.

• There was only a budget of 45 cents daily per
  capita for food rations, giving the internees
  little food.
• Manzanar, the most widely known camp, northeast
  of Los Angeles, California, had the worst
  weather cold temperatures and harsh, frequent
  dust storms.

10
How the Internment was Viewed

• Ones who were for the internment simply called
  internees residents, but Roosevelt privately
  referred the camps as concentration camps.
• Many who were against the internment called it
  prejudice and called them concentration camps
  publicly against the War Relocation Authority.

11
Internment Ends

• The Supreme Court ruled the imprisonment of loyal
  citizens unconstitutional in December 1944.
• The ruling led to the government bringing
  individuals back to the West Coast on early 1945.
  The Japanese Americans were given 25 and a free
  ticket ride back to their homes.
• Some migrated back to Japan, but most stayed to
  rebuild their lives.

12
Aftermath and Compensation of Internment

• Although compensation was paid for property
  losses, the ex-internees were still not able to
  fully recover their losses.
• Young Americans started the Redress Movement in
  1960 for an apology.
• In 1988, President Ronald Regan signed a
  legislation which apologized for the internment
  on behalf of the U.S. Government.
• The Manzanar Camp was reformed into a National
  Historic Site to provide for the protection and
  interpretation of historic, cultural, and natural
  resources associated with the relocation of
  Japanese Americans during World War II.

13
Reflection

• I too believe that the internment was prejudice
  and unfair. I am glad, however, that they were
  apologized for and after learning more about
  this, I hope nothing more like it will happen
  again.

14
Bibliography

• Executive Order 9066 Wikipedia.org. 11/09/07,
  retrieved 11/13/07. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E
  xecutive_Order_9066
• Japanese American Internment Wikipedia.org.
  11/26/07, retireved 11/27/07. http//en.wikipedia.
  org/wiki/Japanese_American_Internment
• Manzanar Wikipedia.org. 12/04/07, retrieved
  12/04/07. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanar

15
Bibliography Cont.

• Davis, Daniel S. and Ann Troy. Behind Barbed
  Wire. United States, New York, N.Y. E.P. Dutton,
  Inc., 1982.
• Stanley, Jerry. I Am An American. United States,
  New York, N.Y. Crown Publishers, Inc., 1994.