1. Evaluating the Japanese Internment During WWII
Create the following Chart using the entire right side of your notebook
Summary
Choose a response..why?
What happened?
Concern A B C

2. Evaluating the Japanese Internment During WWII - Introduction
Throughout US History, decision makers have been challenged by questions about what constitutes fair and just actions during times of war. For example, the government had to consider the extent of citizens’ rights in a democracy during wartime. To safeguard American security, can the government of the US carry out actions that violate the rights of American citizens? Or may the Constitution never be violated, even under wartime circumstances?

3. Introduction continued....
Constitutional questions such as these were certain to arise during WWII. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the government feared further attacks on US soil. These fears raised the issue of the possible presence of enemy collaborators among the over one million people of German, Italian and Japanese descent then living within the US. The government had to determine whether their presence threatened national security…..

4. Concern A
Beginning the day after Pearl Harbor, the government used several tactics to alleviate the threat of enemy collaborators
FBI jailed thousands of Italian, German and Japanese Americans
Some were relocated away from areas deemed vital to security
Radios, fishing boats and cameras confiscated
Curfews established
However, harshest treatment was reserved for the Japanese Americans
1942 Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 – all Japanese, regardless of citizenship, age, gender and place of birth, were taken into custody and interned

5. Concern B Americans were divided..
Why only the Japanese? - they often lived in small ethnic enclaves, they were easy to identify and small number of population
Anti- Japanese sentiment – long history of discrimination against Asian Americans and immigrants

7. Concern C
House Bill Regan signed legislation that awarded $20,000 to every surviving Japanese American who had been interned
Also issued an apology

8. Wrap Up Questions – Left Side
Was the decision to intern Japanese a military necessity? Why or why not?
Do you think the US government’s decision to pay reparations and to apologize was the right thing to do? Why or why not?

9. After you receive the evacuation notice, you must report to your station with the proper identification

10. This is the first view you have of your new home

11. As you exit the bus, you see the warnings which greet you at the camps perimeter

12. You wait eagerly to see if the rest of your family will join you on the next bus

13. …but you do not see them

14. You are questioned and photographed like a common criminal

15. Arrival at Camp Jerome by Henry Sugimoto

16. The Loneliness of Poston by George Sogioka

17. You are taken to your barren new home, former horse stables

18. All around you there is nothing but desolation

19. You go to your first day at school…

20. Sandstorm at Topaz by Suiko Mikami

21. After dropping off your younger sibling at the pre-school

22. And you realize you are all American
And you realize you are all American. You are all American citizens living your lives behind a barbed wire fence with warnings telling you that you will be shot should you wander far from the camp’s gate

23. You play baseball

24. You watch the high school football games

25. You try to act like everything is normal, you try to show the love of your country

26. Students Hurry to Class by Kango Takamura