Japanese-Americans in World War II Joe Johnson Tommy Thompson Japanese-Americans in World War II

Japanese-American internment camps Joe Johnson Japanese-American internment camps

Vocabulary Internment-To place in confinement (to shut or keep in), especially in wartime Barracks-A building, or group of buildings used to house military personnel.

How it started December 7th 1941: Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (a military base in Hawaii). United States was scared of another attack and war hysteria seized the country. February 19th 1942: Executive Order 9066 moved 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes into internment camps. The US justified their action by claiming there was a danger of Japanese Americans spying for Japan More than 2/3 of those interned were American citizens and 1/2 of them were children. Some family members were separated and put in different camps.

What was it like to live there? Life in the camps was hard. The families had about 2 days to pack for the camps They were only were allowed to bring what they could carry They were housed in barracks and had to use communal areas for washing, laundry and eating.

How did it end? January 1945 : the Public Proclamation 21 became effective in which allowed internees to return to their homes. At the end of the war some remained in the US and rebuilt their lives Others were unforgiving and returned to Japan

Were the internment camps necessary? None of the people interned had ever previously shown disloyalty to the United States. During the entire war only ten people were convicted of spying for Japan The ten people were all Caucasian.

Japanese-Americans: Battling Discrimination Tommy Thompson Japanese-Americans: Battling Discrimination

Pearl harbor Attack on Pearl Harbor made many Americans mistrust Japanese Americans Japanese-Americans on West Coast were put in internment camps

Japanese-Americans Volunteer Nonetheless, many Japanese-American young men volunteered to fight for America in World War II They were determined to prove their patriotism and devotion to their adopted country

The 442nd Regimental The most famous Japanese-American unit was the 442nd Regiment They fought with distinction during the Italian Campaign

Korematsu v. United States Some Japanese-Americans fought discrimination in the courts The case of Korematsu v. United States took the case against Japanese internment all the way to the Supreme Court

Reparations The U.S. government eventually admitted it was wrong to intern Japanese-Americans (forty years later) U.S. government agreed to pay Japanese-Americans for their lost property

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