Internment CampsInternment Camps

By: Rachel Walker, Marc Missera, Emily Goldberg,

and Seth Dixon

Time Line

December 7, 1941: Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor.

February 19, 1942:FDR signs Executive Order 9066, which states that Japanese should be interned.

April 1, 1942: The Internment of Japanese begins, mostly on the West Coast.

Going to the Camps

There was little warning before removal.

Forced to sell possessions, land, and homes quickly.

Going to the Camps

Only allowed to bring what they could carry.

Soldiers confiscated any valuables they wanted.

Waiting

While waiting to be sent to the camps, refugees were housed in horse stalls and tents. Surrounded by guards and

barbed wire.

The Camps

Housed in wooden barracks with wood frame and tarpaper as roof.

20 x 25 feet per family. Overcrowded.

The Camps

Only furnishings were cots, blankets, and a light bulb.

Communal toilet, bathing, laundry and dining.

Camp Locations

California Idaho Utah Arizona Wyoming Colorado Arkansas Canada: British Columbia

Civil Rights

2 Cases:o Hirabayashi v. United States 1943o Korematsu v. United States 1944

Hirabayashi v. US 1943

Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi was a University of Washington student. Convicted of breaking curfew. Appealed the conviction all

the way to the supreme court. Turning Overruled in U.S.

District Court in Seattle.

Korematsu v. US 1944

Convicted of evading internment camp, but appealed this ruling .

The government submitted false information during the investigation.

Justification for Internment Camps:

The Japanese were a risk to national security.

The Japanese could help signal enemy sabotages.

Justification

The Japanese citizens could become spies.

There was lots of “fifth-column activity” (“enemy in your midst”) amongst the Japanese.

Law Suits

JACL Wanted each person interned to

receive $15,000 and $15 for each day interned.

NCJAR Wanted individual payments.

Compensation

On April 22, 1988, Congress passed a bill extending a national apology to survivors.

Authorized $687 million dollars of compensation.

Each person got $20,000.

Bibliography

Dudley, William, ed. Japanese American Internment Camps.

San Diego, CA: Greenhaven P, Inc., 2002. World War II History." The National WWII Museum. The

National World War II Museum. Web. http://www.google.com