War Time Internment - Research Paper Example

War Time Internment The Japanese ancestries have made their home in America for more than 100years. They migrated to America politics and economics in their homeland. The Japanese Americans had a tightly knit, self sufficient community within a society filled with anti Asian. When the Japan bombed the Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 their lives changed drastically according to Ng (p1). This act led to the internment of American Japanese as they were perceived to be security threat by the American government. This paper discusses the history of the internment and the experiences people went through in the process. Cause of the Internment The provocation for the Americans to enter into a war was brought about by Japan which by then had joined the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis in September 1940 by signing the tripartite pact. The United States got alarmed when Japan anticipated building an East Asian empire. The United Sates responded to the invasion of the Japanese forces into French Indochina by adding items to a lengthy list of embargoed Japanese goods and eventually the US froze all its’ trades with the Japan. In 1941 the US intelligence sent out warnings to commanders of U.S bases in the pacific when he become aware of Japanese plans to attack. The American officials did not think the threat was significant but they were proven wrong on December 7th 1941 when the Japanese planes bombed the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor in an attempt to destroy American sea power in the pacific. During this time the Japanese destroyed nearly 200 aircraft, eight battleships, three cruisers and almost 2,400 Americans died. On December 8th, the senate voted in favor of Franklin Roosevelt’s request for a declaration of war on Japan. Italy and Germany joined with Japan on 11th December on declaring war to the U.S., this led the U.S. into world war two (Inada, Society, pxi). Japanese American Internment The Japanese American internment occurred in the year 1942 and ended in the year 1945. Japanese war time internment refers to a forcible relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942, where around 110,000 Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans who lived along the pacific coast of the United States to housing facilities that were called war relocation camps (these camps were 10 and they were situated in seven states) at the wake of imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7th December 1941 (Burgan, p10). The Japanese Americans internment was applied unequally through out the United States. Franklin Roosevelt endorsed the internment using an Executive order 9066 to the military that was signed on February 19th 1942 using his authority as commander-in-chief to exercise war powers. The order gave the military the right to relocate United States citizens who were thought to be potential enemies of the state. Many Japanese ancestries lost their homes, businesses and all their worldly possessions during the internment. The Japanese American who were also known as the Nikkei community was made up of several various distinct groups who included; the Issei, Nisei, Sansei and Kibei, the Issei were the first generation and immigrants living in the US and they were considered to be more dangerous because they were spies for Japan and still closely tied to their mother country. The Nisei were the second generation and these were people who were born in the United States to people of Japanese ancestry from the Japan. The Sansei were the third generation and these were people who were born by the Nisei and were most assimilated with the American culture. The Kibei were the U.S. citizens who were educated in the Japan. All the first three groups (Issei, Nisei and the Sansei) were interned. (Robinson, p4). Housing/the internment camps The Japanese families were housed in various camps around the U.S., the camps were enclosed with barbed wire, sentry post, armed guards and several towers. These camps had not much detailed planning as they were built quickly during the summer of 1942. The residences were long (100’ x 20’) military and barracks style houses. This was then divided into four homes where each (20’ x 25’) room housed 8 to 9 people with eight cots (7’ x 3’) leaving very small space for anything else. The Japanese were rounded up and were shipped to the internment camps because they were deemed as threat to national security. This is where the internees were moved and kept under armed guards for most of the war duration. These internment camps were scattered throughout the remote parts of the United States which included; Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, California and Arkansas. The last internment camp was closed in March, 1946 more than six months after the Second World War ended (Inada, Society xii). These ten camps included the Amache, Gila River, Manzanar, Poston, Topaz, Rohwer, Minidoka, Jerome, Heart Mountain and Tula Lake. These ten internment camps resembled prisons with harsh conditions for human beings. The Japanese Americans were released from these camps three years later (1945 and 1946 were the years that they were released). Life in the internment camps Upon arriving at the camps, the Japanese Americans found a very poor living condition at the camps, the housing units were filthy, the food was badly prepared and the meals were nutritionally inadequate. Many people fall ill from allergic reactions to immunizations and the camps environment. The Japanese American ate their foods at the barracks, this brought around disintegration as many families did not come together for meals, interact and talk together as a family. They got little attention as the medical care was minimal and their children did not attend schools. The families lived in poor sanitary conditions since sewers were open and they had to rely on communal toilet and bathing facilities (Wakatsuki and Houston). The Japanese families “inmates” had to line up for everything from meals, latrines, services and supplies. Despite the adults going to work in the camp schools, offices, hospitals mess halls, offices and war time production facilities, they were grossly underpaid and also got paid in scrip so that they could use the money to buy things within the camp only. In these camps there was no comfort and privacy, escaping internees and troublemakers were beaten and others were shot by the guards (Robinson, p4). Redress and reparations During World War Two, Colorado governor Ralph Lawrence Carr was elected to publicly apologize for the internment of the American citizens. This act earned him a reelection and gained him gratitude of the Japanese American community and his owner a statue of him was put up in Sakura Square in Denver’s Japan town. In the year 1960 a younger generation of the Japanese American who were inspired by the civil rights movement began a movement known as the redress movement in an effort of obtaining an official apology from the federal government for interning their parents and grandparents during the war. This campaign was launched by Japanese American in the year 1978. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) asked for measures to be taken and that $25,000 be awarded to each person who was interned. Conclusion The Japanese ancestry went through lots of hardships in the hands of the US government during the internment. They lost many things that they had worked for including the freedom to do what they want as they were interned. Many people were separated from their families and this was very painful to them. They lived under very dirty environment at the camps and were much experienced several difficulties; they worked a lot and got under paid. The United States of America failed in its duties to protect its citizens against greed, prejudice and political expediency. Work Cited Burgan, M. the Japanese American Internment: civil liberties Denied. Minneapolis, MN: Compass point Books. 2007. Houston, D. J and Wakatsuki, J. Book Club to go! Farewell to Manzanar. N, d. print. Inada, F.L. and Society, H.C. oOnly what we could carry: the Japanese American internment experience. California: Heyday Books. 2000. Ng, L. W. Japanese American internment during World War II: a history and reference guide. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. 2002. Robinson, G. By order of the president: FDR and the internment of Japanese Americans. Cambridge 38: Harvard University Press. 2001. Read More