Japanese Internment

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer maintains that Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 led U.S. government officials to believe that West Coast Japanese residents, especially the Issei and the Nisei population, helped plan the attack. The writer points out that in response, these officials, including U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle, Los Angeles Congressman Leland Ford, and California Attorney General Earl Warren, called for the internment of first-generation Issei people and the second generation, American-born Nisei people in camps where they would spend the rest of the period of World War II. The writer notes that the intent was to prevent them from committing further acts of disloyalty to the U.S. The writer then discusses that, acting on their recommendation, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which evacuated almost 120,000 West Coast residents of Japanese descent from their homes to 10 government War Relocation Authority camps in the West, South and Southwest areas. The writer discusses the treatment of the Japanese internees and looks at the impact of and reactions to the internment.

From the Paper:

"The internment caused them further and deeper losses and sufferings. The internees lost their jobs, social networks, and education as well as work opportunities for being separated from the mainstream of life. The bitterness they felt towards the American government but could not direct to it was instead directed towards one another. There were conflicts between pro-Japanese and pro-American groups. As a result, hundreds of Nisei students who attended schools, like the College of Oberlin in Ohio, left the camps. Some Christian churches helped by taking Nisei people to work for them in the South and Midwest. Around a thousand joined the US military forces as part of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Four internees coursed their grievances through the courts and challenged the constitutionality of the relocation order. Their petitions were initially denied. But in December, 1944, the US Supreme Court found the petition of Mitsuye Endo as meritorious and decided that her detention violated her civil rights. In January, 1945, the War Department rescinded the evacuation orders and arranged for the release of the internees."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Forman, David. Never Again Should th US Deny Individual Rights Based on Ethnicity. Another View. Starbulletin.com: Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 9, 2004
• Malkin, Michelle. Rethinking the Wisdom of Japanese-American Internment. Right from the Start. Starbulletin.com., Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 9, 2004
• Miller, John J. Intern Problem: Cases Involving Interned Japanese during World War II. National Review: National Review, Inc., May 3, 1999
• Ruether, Rosemary Rodford. Story of Japanese Haunts US: Racism of Internment Camp Thrives Today. National Catholic Reporter: Gale Group, June 30, 1995
• Tagaki, Midori. Japanese American Internment Camp. St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture: Gale Group, 2002

More papers on Japanese Internment:

• Creative Essay # 119454 : "Letter from a Japanese Internment Camp"
• Essay # 67248 : "The Japanese Internment Camp"
• Essay # 73551 : "Japanese Internment"
• Analytical Essay # 30044 : "WWII Japanese Internment"

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