Japanese Internment Essay -- American History Japan Pearl Harbor Essay

Nipp unmatchablese impoundment The decision to imprison Nipponese Americans was a popular one in 1942. It was supported not only by the government, but it was alike called for by the press and the people. In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Japan was the enemy. Many Americans believed that people of Nipponese Ancestry were potency spies and saboteurs, intent on helping their mother country to win creation war II. The Japanese race is an enemy race, General John DeWitt, doubtfulness of the Western Defense Command wrote in February 1942. And while many secant and third generation Japanese born in the United States soil, have of United States citizenship, have become Americanized, the racial strains ar undiluted (quoted in Smith, 1995 83). On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. The Order declare that the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage a nd against debase to national defense material, national defense premises, and national defense utilities. In pursuit of this goal, the monument of War, or the military commander whom he skill designate, was authorized to prescribe military areas in much(prenominal) places and of such achievement as hewhitethorn determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the depositoryor the Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary was also authorized to provide for residents of any such areas who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessaryuntil other arrangements are made, to accomplish the purpose of this order (see Appendix 1). Though the Order seems to be in violation of the Constitution at the time, the Supreme Court upheld it because of military necessity. There was evidence of disloyalty on the part of some Japanese Americans, the military government considered that the need for action was great, and time was short. We cannot by availing ourselves of the calm perspective of hindsight without delay say that at that time these actions were unjustified, stated Justice Hugo Black on December 18, 1944 (quoted in Irons, 1989 83). The War Department oversaw the removal of people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast based upon wartime military necessity. Shortly ... ...t and visualize of alien enemies, except as such duty and responsibility is superseded by the designation of military areas hereunder.THE WHITE HOUSE, Franklin D. Roosevelt, February 19, 1942.Works CitedDavis, Daniel S. Behind Barbed Wire. sweet York, NY E. P. Dutton, Inc., 1982.Girdner and Loftis, The Great Betrayal, 148.Irons, Peter, ed., Justice Delayed The Record of the Japanese American Internment Cases. Middletown, CT Wesleyan University Press, 1989, 83.Ng, Wendy. Japanese American Internment during World War II A History and Refernce Guide. W estport, CT Greenwood Press, 2002.Smith, Page. Democracy on Trial. invigorated York Simon and Schuster, 1995, 124.Stanley, Jerry. I Am An American A True Story of Japanese Interment. New York, NY Crown Publishers, Inc., 1994.tenBroek, Jacobus, Edward N. Barnhart, and Floyd W. Matson. Prejudice, War, and the Constitution. Berkeley and Lost Angeles, CA University of atomic number 20 Press, 1954.Thomas, Dorothy Swaine, and Richard S. Nishimoto. The Spoilage. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA University of California Press, 1946, 27.Yancey, Diane. The Internment of the Japanese. San Diego, CA Lucent Books, 2001.