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Japanese Americans were initially barred from U.S. military service, but by 1943, they were allowed to join, with 20,000 serving during the war. Over 4,000 students were allowed to leave the camps to attend college. Hospitals in the camps recorded 5,981 births and 1,862 deaths during incarceration.
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- Overview
- Relocation
Japanese American internment was the forced relocation by the U.S. government of thousands of Japanese Americans to detention camps during World War II, beginning in 1942. The government’s action was the culmination of its long history of racist and discriminatory treatment of Asian immigrants and their descendants that boiled over after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.
Where were Japanese American internment camps?
Japanese American internment camps were located mainly in western U.S. states. The first internment camp in operation was Manzanar, located in California. Between 1942 and 1945 a total of 10 camps were opened, holding approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans for varying periods of time in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas.
Why were Japanese Americans interned during World War II?
After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. War Department suspected that Japanese Americans might act as espionage agents for Japan, despite a lack of evidence. John J. McCloy, the assistant secretary of war, who oversaw the internment program, prioritized national security over civil liberties expressed in the Constitution. He justified his actions by saying he considered the Constitution “just a scrap of paper.”
What was life like inside Japanese American internment camps?
In early February 1942, the War Department created 12 restricted zones along the Pacific coast and established nighttime curfews for Japanese Americans within them. Individuals who broke curfew were subject to immediate arrest. The nation’s political leaders still debated the question of relocation, but the issue was soon decided. On February 19, 1942, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which gave the U.S. military authority to exclude any persons from designated areas. Although the word Japanese did not appear in the executive order, it was clear that only Japanese Americans were targeted, though some other immigrants, including Germans, Italians, and Aleuts, also faced detention during the war. On March 18, 1942, the federal War Relocation Authority (WRA) was established. Its mission was to “take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war.”
On March 31, 1942, Japanese Americans along the West Coast were ordered to report to control stations and register the names of all family members. They were then told when and where they should report for removal to an internment camp. (Some of those who survived the camps and other individuals concerned with the characterization of their history have taken issue with the use of the term internment, which they argue is used properly when referring to the wartime detention of enemy aliens but not of U.S. citizens, who constituted some two-thirds of those of Japanese extraction who were detained during the war. Many of those who are critical of the use of internment believe incarceration and detention to be more appropriate terms.) Japanese Americans were given from four days to about two weeks to settle their affairs and gather as many belongings as they could carry. In many cases, individuals and families were forced to sell some or all of their property, including businesses, within that period of time.
Some Euro-Americans took advantage of the situation, offering unreasonably low sums to buy possessions from those who were being forced to move. Many homes and businesses worth thousands of dollars were sold for substantially less than that. Nearly 2,000 Japanese Americans were told that their cars would be safely stored until they returned. However, the U.S. Army soon offered to buy the vehicles at cut-rate prices, and Japanese Americans who refused to sell were told that the vehicles were being requisitioned for the war.
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After being forcibly removed from their homes, Japanese Americans were first taken to temporary assembly centres. From there they were transported inland to the internment camps (critics of the term internment argue that these facilities should be called prison camps). The first internment camp in operation was Manzanar, located in east-central California. Between 1942 and 1945 a total of 10 camps were opened, holding approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans for varying periods of time in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Oct 29, 2009 · Japanese internment camps were established during World War II by President Franklin D. Roosevelt through his Executive Order 9066. From 1942 to 1945, it was the policy of the U.S. government that ...
Feb 23, 2022 · The National Archives has extensive holdings including photos, videos, and records that chronicle the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Many are online in the National Archives Catalog, including thousands of photographs. Featured Article News Feature Article: Correcting the Record on Dorothea Lange's Japanese Internment Photos Prologue Magazine How an eagle feels when his ...
This map shows the extent of the exclusion zone Japanese Americans were forced to leave and the locations of the 10 internment camps to which they were sent. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. On Feb. 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, setting in motion the internment of more than 120,000 Japanese American citizens.
President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 resulted in the relocation of 112,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast into internment camps during the Second World War. Japanese Americans sold their businesses and houses for a fraction of their value before being sent to the camps. In the process, they lost their livelihoods ...
