WARM UP: describe a time that being scared caused you to act irrationally/ unfairly

SWBAT understand the mistakes the US made during the Japanese internment during WWII

Japanese Internment Camps:

A Misguided Step Towards

“Winning The War”

In the beginning of the US’s participation in World War II, the government commenced the internment of Japanese Americans in order to

prevent possible sabotage from spies.

Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial

The government felt that this was a necessary step in

order to protect the American people.

Although the government felt they were helping to ensure victory, they were really violating

civil liberties and due process of law.

Their actions were in protest to Japan’s unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor. Their attempt to protect the American people was indirectly the result of an existing prejudice towards Japanese Americans.

The anti-Japanese sentiment started even before Pearl Harbor. It began with Japanese immigration

in the 1890s and early 1900s, which white Americans called the “Yellow Flood.”

During this era, over 100,000 Japanese immigrants entered the US.

The white Americans saw the Japanese as economic competition for land and jobs, especially during the Great Depression. These circumstances created

a strong and enduring resentment of Japanese immigrants and their descendents.

“Of all the races ineligible to [sic] citizenship, the Japanese are the least assimilable and the most dangerous to the country. … They come … for the purpose of

colonizing and establishing here the proud Yamato race. They never cease to be

Japanese.” -Valentine S. McClatchy,

A wealthy California Newspaper owner testifying to Congress.

After the the unprovoked bombing of Pearl Harbor, the

resentment towards the Japanese grew and evolved into an

unfounded suspicion of treachery based more on

racism than actual evidence.

Curtis Munson, a State Department employee who was sent to investigate the loyalty of the

Japanese on the West coast, stated in his report:

“For the most part the local Japanese are loyal to the United States … We do not believe that

they would be at the least any more disloyal than any other racial group in the United States with

whom we went to war.”-Curtis Munson

Despite the findings of Munson and the FBI, the government placed restrictions on Japanese

Americans and their movements. Later they passed Executive Order 9066 which allowed the military to evacuate anyone they felt was necessary and

intern them in designated areas.

Lieutenant General John L. De Witt was the chief of the

Western Defense Command, and as chief he was concerned with the “enemy” aliens in his area. Influenced by his

superiors and his own personal bias, he was given power and even encouraged to relocate those he saw fit,

most of them being of Japanese descent.

“A Jap is a Jap. They are a dangerous element … There is no way to determine their loyalty … It makes no difference whether he is an American; theoretically he is still a Japanese, and you can’t change him … by giving him a piece of paper.”

- General De Witt,speaking to a congressional committee.

The vast majority of Japanese Americans were, in fact, loyal to the US and tried to show their loyalty despite the discrimination and unfair

legal restrictions and evacuation.

"[I pledge to] assume my duties and obligations as a citizen, cheerfully and without any

reservations whatsoever, in the hope that I may become a better American in a greater America.”

- Japanese American Citizens League Pledge

Although the government and the American people were suspicious of Japanese Americans and acted on these suspicions, no Japanese American was ever convicted of treason in support of Japan

during World War II.

“[Though Japanese internment] was

justified to us on the grounds that the Japanese were

potentially disloyal, the record does not disclose a single case of Japanese disloyalty.”

-Henry Steele CommagerWriter for Harper’s Magazine

Not only was the military doubtful of

the loyalty of Japanese Americans, they also singled out

the Japanese Americans for

relocation to the internment camps.

The military restrictions and incarceration of “enemy aliens” was not equally applied. The restrictions fell much harder on those of

Japanese descent than those of Italian or German descent, even though the US was at war with

Germany and Italy as well as Japan. Why do you think this is??

The incarceration of “enemy aliens” and the

seizure of their property without

justification violated due process of law. It singled out Japanese Americans for their ancestry and deprived

them of equal protection under the law as stated in the Constitution.

Section One, Article Fourteen of the Constitution of the United States:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States … are citizens of the United States and of

the States wherein they reside.No State shall make or enforce any law which

shall abridge [their] privileges and immunities … [nor] deprive life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to an person … the

equal protection of the laws.”

All of these aforementioned pieces of evidence contributed to the wrongful

and unnecessary mistreatment of Japanese citizens during World War II.

The American government’s actions towards Japanese Americans were rooted in a desire to protect the American people as a whole. Their good intentions were corrupted by existing prejudices and the pressures of the War.

When such orders were issued for the West Coast, Fred Korematsu instead became a fugitive. The legality of the internment order was upheld by the

United States Supreme Court in Korematsu v. United States, but

Korematsu's conviction was overturned decades later after the

disclosure of new evidence, challenging the necessity of the

Japanese internment, which had been withheld from the courts by the U.S.

government during the war.

Their actions are somewhat understandable, considering the fear of having the war so close to home and the hysteria generated by that fear.

This war hysteria, coupled with the government’s and the people’s strong desire for a sense of

control over the situation, resulted in the injustice perpetrated upon

innocent American citizens.

America acted rashly and its actions were not logical or supported by evidence. Also, the focused hostility towards Japanese Americans

illustrates a strong underlying racism as a cause of the erroneous deeds of the US government

during World War II.

Has this happened before the 1940s?

Has it happened since the 1940s??

Palmer Raids, Assimilation of Native Americans, Reconstruction, etc

Operation Wetback, civil rights movement , Patriot act, “random airport searches”, etc.

This violation of civil rights is one more example of “taking a stand” gone astray. Will

your generation be the one to LEARN from history??

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to

repeat it”

~ George Santayana

Assignment to finish for Homework due Friday:

Write a letter to your family on the east coast from an internment camp as if you were an 11th grade Japanese American during this time. Additional points will be added if you make the letter look authentic.

Examples…

CreditsQuotations, Textual Information and Images:•Korematsu v. United States: Japanese-American Internment Camps by Karen Alonso

•America’s Concentration Camps by Allan R. Bosworth

•Concentration Camps USA: Japanese Americans and WWII by Roger Daniels

•Behind Barbed Wire, The Imprisonment of Japanese Americans During World War II by Daniel S. Davis

•Behind Barbed Wire, The Story of Japanese-American Internment During World War II by Lila Perl

•“Internment of Japanese Americans During World War II”

– galegroup.com

•Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum

• Oracle Thinkquest Online Library

•College of Behavioral and Social Science