Paragraph 1: Introduction
On December 7, 1941, the military base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Army. Under 3 months later, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorised military commanders to exclude any persons or ‘aliens’ from certain areas. Soon after all people of Japanese ancestry were banned from living, traveling or working in the West Coast of the US, regardless of citizenship. People affected by this initiative were first allowed to relocate voluntarily. This initiative eventually failed and the ‘alien population’ was removed by the army, first to assembly centres and eventually to relocation centres. 120,000 people would be held without any formal charges or interviews. How could the US Government indecently persecute its own citizens, this essay aims to have an in depth view into the circumstance that would lead to this error of justice.
Paragraph 2: Executive Order 9066
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbour there was a fear amongst the public of future sabotage and further death and destruction. On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, this authorised the Secretary of War, and the military personnel he authorised ‘to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded.’ This meant that certain people could be banned from certain areas in the interest of national security, because of the events two months before, the Japanese would be mainly affected by this Order. Major Japanese immigration to the United States had begun in the middle of the nineteenth century, with the establishment of Japanese-American trade relations, throughout all these years any direct immigrant from Japan (known as Issei) could not achieve US citizenship, however any child of a Japanese immigrant would become a natural citizen, providing they were born in the United States (known as Nisei). Now all of these immigrants and citizens would be targeted by this Order, regardless of their citizenship status.
Paragraph 3: Exclusion and Evacuation
The immediate institution of the order was of volunteer, self-removal of the Japanese population from the restricted areas along the Western Coast, this would have been Issei and Nisei population this was nothing but an inconvenience, many presumed that the quick sale of homes, land and businesses would not result in a fair offer because of their limited time to leave. They would also have to leave behind an area they might have called home and move to a new, unfamiliar part of the country and start their lives again. Naturally the volunteer evacuation was not a success, therefore the Army would have to organise mass evacuations of the population, firstly to temporary assembly centres, which were often
racetracks or fairgrounds. This policy of mass relocation would sweep through the coast, often on very short notice for the residents to prepare to leave their homes, businesses and lives behind them. The evacuations began on March 31, 1942, people were kept in the temporary assembly centres until August of 1942, some 90,000 would be located to these centres, 70% of those would be American citizens.
Paragraph 4: The Camps (Geography and conditions ):
The internment camps where the 120,000 excluded people were kept were located in the states of Idaho, Arkansas, Wyoming, Colorado ,Utah, Arizona and California. The internees would be transferred to their camp mostly by train. The only luggage they could bring was what they could carry, upon arrival each individual would be given an identification tag. Each relocation centre was organised like a prison, complete with barbed wire fencing and guards at various watch points. Each camp could hold between 8,000 and 17,000 internees however conditions were described as very crowded and ‘of simple frame construction’ and without basic cooking or plumbing facilities. Many oral sources claimed that the living quarters were very cold, and a number of inmates would die from inadequate levels of professional medical care and the vulnerability to diseases from living in such close quarters with so many. Food was rationed and food would be eaten in food halls containing over 300 inmates. Within the camps families would be separated into different living quarters, many families would be speared for long periods of time before being reunited. The living conditions were far from what they would have experienced in their own homes.
Paragraph 5: The Camps (social life and military alternative):
One of the main aspects of daily camp life was the social structure, which appeared as bizarre to many internees. The Nisei were held on a higher
regard to the Issei mainly because of their citizenship status. This deprived some parents basic respect from their children, who were now regarded as being of higher standard. This would lead to social tensions between inmates, as the Nisei would have more liberties and had more opportunities within the camp. One job that was deprived from Issei was a place on one of the in camp committees that would note several problems within the camp and present these issues to authority figures, however these committees were often ignored and their reports gone unnoticed. Other more basic jobs, such as those in basic farming or horticulture, also existed within camp. One alternative to camp life was enlistment in the army. The enlistment of people of Japanese descent in the United States Army was prohibited in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour, however as the United States involvement in the war in Europe dragged on, the government decided to allow the enlistment of Nisei citizens into the Army as an alternative to the camps, some 3,500 would enter the armed services from the camps. One regiment that was made up of Japanese Nisei citizens was the highly celebrated 442nd Regimental Combat Team which was have a number of victories in the post D-Day storming of Europe, especially their presence in Italy during the fall of Mussolini’s fascist regime. These victories would both help the acceptance of the soldiers involved back into the society that was once suspicious of their betrayal, but more importantly the dedication of the Nisei soldiers would help to end Executive Order 9066.
Paragraph 6: Conclusion:
The 1944 Presidential Election, which brought about Roosevelt's third term in office, would lead to the end of Executive Order 9066. Roosevelt revoked the Order in early 1944 and internees began to be released almost immediately, the final camp was closed in late 1945. Many of the former internees found that the return to society would not be so easy, many would still be prejudiced by the rest of society and very often the recently released would return to find their businesses, farms and homes in ruins. Over 5,600 Nisei would renounce their American citizenship, however they
would not be accepted because they had been declared behind the barbed wired confines of camp. Several would take legal action, such as Hirabayashi vs. United States and Korematsu vs. United States, but none would end with any benefit, technically the events of the three years previous was legal and had followed the constitution. It would not be until 1988 that Congress would issue payments of $20,000 and a formal apology to each of the 60,000 former internees still living. This would not provide consolation to all, those whole had lost their homes, years off their life, their basic human rights and their respect.