Japanese Internment 1942-1945

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, why do you think many Americans were suspicious of Japanese Americans?

Many people were afraid that Japanese Americans that lived on the West Coast might be acting as spies helping Japan attack the U.S. *Many Japanese Americans were fishermen…What might this mean? HOWEVER…There was NEVER any evidence that Japanese Americans acted as spies during WWII.

“Yellow Peril” became rampant throughout the U.S. Relocation On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. This forced Japanese Americans to move from their homes to “internment” camps. This was to keep them from spying by monitoring their lives. “Yellow Peril” became rampant throughout the U.S.

11,000 Japanese families had to sell their homes and businesses and relocated to these camps. Evacuees were allowed to take only what they could carry. What they couldn’t sell was just left for the taking.

Japanese Americans were put on buses and shipped to one of 10 relocation centers around the United States.

The barracks were surrounded by barbed wire and overseen by high wooden watchtowers. Privacy was almost nonexistent. Evacuees tried to make the best of it by living their lives with some degree of normalcy. Schools, libraries, sports teams, churches, and Americanization classes were created.

The Supreme Court supported this claim in the case of Originally, FDR considered the relocation “legal” under constitutional powers granted to the president during times of war. The Supreme Court supported this claim in the case of Korematsu vs. U.S. Later, this was overturned and all camps were closed by early 1945. But did these feelings just go away???

An Apology In 1988, the U.S. government apologized to Japanese Americans for these internment camps and paid all internees $20,000.

Can you think of two Supreme Court cases that supported the issue of prejudice?

Answer Dred Scott- 1857 Plessy vs. Ferguson- 1896 The Supreme Court ruled that slaves are property, nullifying the Missouri Compromise Plessy vs. Ferguson- 1896 The Supreme Court ruled “separate but equal” declaring segregation legal