Japanese+Internment+Camps+(


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=__//**Japanese-American Internment Camps**//__=

When we think of discrimination, we may think of racial prejudice against blacks, or Native Americans, but we rarely ever think of Japanese. This is strange since one of the most discriminating actions ever done against a race occured on February 19, 1942, when Executive Order 9066 was given by president Franklin Roosevelt. Executive Order 9066 authorized the deportation of 110,000 Japanese Americans. About 62% of those evacuated were American Citizens. That is why this is a civil rights topic because it was against //writ of habeas corpus//. Which gives you the right to know why you're being arrested and for a fair trial.

•1861, Abraham Lincoln suspended a part of Habeas Corpus. This act suspended the right to have a fair trial under a judge, or a basic guarantee of personal freedom. The writ of Habeas Corpus had never been done before in the U.S., and nobody realized the importance of what happened until the early 20th century.

•The Chinese Exclusion Act was approved on May 6, 1882. It was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. China was in a hectic, over populated state and the Chinese desperately needed a place to go. Then this act was passed and it made all the Americans hate the Chinese emigrates even more. They started really having to compete for jobs. It was a hard time on the west coast during that year.

•The Immigration Act of 1924, which included the National Origins Act, Asian Exclusion Act or the Johnson-Reed Act. Passed in 1924, it truly showed how the west coast residents were becoming fearful of their jobs. Japanese and Chinese men worked harder and longer for less money. So naturally, farm owners would hire them instead of the average American. This act banned more Japanese from entering the barred areas all along the west coast.

•Pearl Harbor Raid, December 7, 1941, “A day that will live in infamy”. This was an unexpected and extremely meaningful event. FDR had received many warning signals such as the interception of Japanese war chatter on a secret channel. But nobody thought they could launch that many planes and destroy that many ships. The most important one of all, the Arizona, was hit the hardest, landing on the bottom of the Pacific before the morning was over. This was the start of World War Two for the U.S., but more importantly it gave Americans a reason to hate the Japanese living on their country.

•Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, dated February 19, 1942, gave the military broad powers to take any person of Japanese ancestry, no matter if they were American citizens or not, out of their homes and put them into concentration camps. Lieutenant General John Dewitt strongly supported the lie that said this act was a wartime necessity. It was really an act of religious hatred.

•March 21, 1942, the first concentration camps were opened at Manazar. Nobody was put into these interment camps yet, but they were soon going to realize just how bad their home for the next 3 years was going to be.

•August 7, 1942, approximately 110,000 Japanese were evacuated from their homes and moved into internment camps. The Japanese interned soon realized how hard life was out in the desserts of Arizona. The horrible weather, the snakes and scorpions, the dust storms and the confinement of barb wire. It was a punishment they didn’t deserve.

•November-December, 1943, the 100th Infantry and 442nd Regiment began to form. 10,000 volunteers were pulled from the camps to go fight. This regiment would soon became the hardest fighting and most-liked infantry on the ground. They rescued an entire lost battalion from death, and won more battles than almost any other regiment on the Japanese front. People soon relized how loyal and hard working Japanese could be for their country.

•December 17, 1944, Public Proclamation No. 21 issued by Major General Henry C. Pratt, allowing evacuees to return to their homes, or to what they had left. When the Japanese were evacuated from their homes, all of their belongings were auctioned of for a fraction of their real value. Today it is estimated that collectively, all of their belongings would be worth over 2 billion dollars.

•August 14, 1945, World War II ended for the US when Japan surrendered after atomic bombs “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is estimated that only 20 nuclear warheads could cover up the entire world in a cloud of smoke. It’s amazing how much two bombs can change the world.

•1948, claims act was passed that gave $2,500 to all of the surviving internees, which was nothing compared to what they lost during the evacuation. This act was just an attempt to make it all up to the Japanese for what they did, when really each one of them deserved a whole lot more.

•1965, the barred zone for Japanese immigration was minimized, the flow of immigrants opened. The United Stated opened itself up again to immigrants from other countries. The United States returned to it’s normal state before the war. This only carried on until the Cold War heated up, and then the country partly closed itself in again, for fear of perjury.

•1988, Ronald Reagan signed civil rights act of 1988, gave 20,000 dollars to all of the surviving internees. This was the first recognition of the Japanese for 40 years. And naturally the majority of the Japanese interned were dead. This act still wasn’t even close to what they owed those poor Japanese for what they put them through.

=Title of Exhibit topic= Why this topic is a civil rights issue (overview)
 * History of Topic (may include a timeline of important events )
 * Significant People
 * Virtual Legacy Franklin Roosevelt
 * Virtual Legacy Fred Korematsu
 * Virtual Legacy General John DeWitt
 * Services Japanese Americans were involved in During World War Two