Transcript Japanese Interment Camps - West Ada School District

The Internment of
Japanese Americans during
World War II
1942-1945
Japanese Immigration to the U.S.
Issei-A legal Japanese Immigrant to the
U.S. that arrived before the National
Origins Act of 1924 excluded the Japanese
from immigrating to the U.S.
 Nisei-A child of Japanese immigrants that
was born, educated and lived in the U.S.
Nisei were U.S. citizens because they were
born in the U.S.

Pearl Harbor Attacked by Japan
Pearl Harbor-Quotes
I had gone to the hospital on Sunday morning because it
was my usual thing to get up, have breakfast, and go to
the hospital for rounds. As soon as I came home, one of
my friends, Mr. Taniguchi, called. He said, "Did you hear
the radio?" I said, "No, I hadn't heard the radio because
I just got back from the hospital." He said, "Did you
know that Japan has raided and bombed Pearl Harbor?"
I said "NO." And he said, "Turn your radio on." So we
turned the radio on. I got so darn scared after that I
didn't know whether to leave the house or not.
Roy K. Tanaka, M.D.
Pearl Harbor-Quotes
December 7, 1941 was a cloudy day, and
even for San Diego it was chilly. I was in
my hot house in our backyard busying
myself with the camellias I grew as a
hobby. About noon my oldest son burst
through the door. "Papa," he told me with
wide eyes and short gasps of breath,
"Papa, Papa, Japan has bombed Hawaii."
Josuke Sakamoto
Pearl Harbor-Quotes
Yesterday, Sunday, December 7th, 1941.
A day which will live in infamy. The United
States of America was suddenly and
deliberately attacked by naval and air
forces of the Empire of Japan.
President Franklin Roosevelt
Executive Order 9066
President Roosevelt, encouraged by officials at all levels
of the federal government, authorized the internment of
tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese
ancestry and resident aliens from Japan. Roosevelt’s
Executive Order 9066, dated February 19, 1942, gave
the military broad powers to ban any citizen from a fiftyto sixty-mile-wide coastal area stretching from
Washington state to California and extending inland into
southern Arizona. The order also authorized transporting
these citizens to assembly centers hastily set up and
governed by the military in California, Arizona,
Washington state, and Oregon.
Executive Order 9066
Sign posted ordering the evacuation of
Japanese Americans from the West Coast
Executive Order 9066
Map of the Areas to be Evacuated
Families were forced to sell
businesses…
…and pack up…
…their possessions…
…in order to relocate…
…to the internment camps.
In most camps construction had to
be completed upon arrival.
In addition, the camps were very
crowded…
…and were home to both young
and old.
Life in the Camps
Children had to attend school in cramped
quarters…
Life in the Camps
…and had a difficult time…
Life in the Camps
…finding a place to play.
Life in the Camps
Japanese Americans were forced to work
certain jobs…
Life in the Camps
…and the camps were always monitored by
guards from the U.S. Army.
Life in the Camps
Japanese Americans were allowed to
associate with each other at times…
Life in the Camps
…and plant and farm their victory gardens,
which supplemented their diets at the
camp.
Life in the Camps
In some areas cold temperatures and
snow had to be dealt with by people that
were not used to a similar climate.
Loyal to the U.S. Government
Many Japanese Americans served in the
United States military during World War
II, while their family members were
interned in a camp.
Barrack Life
Life in the barracks was uncomfortable as
entire families lived in a single room that
was sparsely furnished with cots and
makeshift dressers…
Barrack Life
…and that offered no privacy for young
married couples.
Suits against the U.S. Government

Hirabayashi v. United States – the U.S. Supreme
Court unanimously decided that a curfew order
affecting only Japanese Americans was
constitutional.
 Korematsu v. United States – the U.S. Supreme
Court upheld the order calling for the relocation
of Japanese Americans as constitutional. (Ronald
Reagan would sign a law in 1988 which provided
some restitution for people of Japanese ancestry
who were interned during World War II)
The End of the Internment Camps


As the war ended, the internment camps
were shut down.
Also as the war was coming to an end, the
Supreme Court ruled that if Japanese
Americans could demonstrate loyalty then
they had to be released from an
internment camp, however, by that time
all camps had been almost completely
shut down.
The End of the Internment Camps
The End of the Internment Camps
Internment after World War II
President Gerald Ford issued Proclamation
4417 in 1976, which apologized to
Japanese Americans for interment during
World War II.
 Ronald Reagan would sign a law in 1988
which provided some restitution for people
of Japanese ancestry who were interned
during World War II
