Japanese interntment camps
War World II left a situation of tension in the European countries because of the treaty of Versailles, which prohibited Germany any military movement. However, in 1939, War World II began, because Germany had violated the agreement made after War World I. This movement created alliances on two fronts; on one side were Germany, Italy, and Japan, and on the otherfront France, England, and the Soviet Union. The United States kept neutral and avoided any involvement in the war, but on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii which started a huge movement from coast to coast into the United States.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the government was concerned about National Security, because there were too many Japanese in the country,seeing as the only option to Japanese was evacuation. The Japanese population had significantly increased, but most of these people had come to the United States looking for a better life. The main base on the Japanese economy was agriculture, in spite of the discrimination against them, they worked hard to survive. Nevertheless, no one cared about the conditions that Japanese people faced, on thecontrary, it was something that many enjoyed; Asian haters, but also there were those who got a benefit of the relocation; the competition for jobs. Meanwhile the government, the main interested of the removal of Japanese to internment camps because of the persistence of people like De Witt, an administrator of internment camps, who says to the congress, “I don’t want any of them here. They are adangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty… it makes no difference whether he is an American citizen does not necessary determines loyalty. But we most worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the camp” (Wikipedia 4). Based on this opinion and accusations, the US government concluded that in some way Japanese Americans have a relation with Japan, because theyhad grown up under its traditions, which could cause them treason in the United States.
On February 19, 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt signed the execution order 9066, which says that all Japanese Americans and Japanese aliens should be founded and evacuated to the internment camps. Before the evacuations, Japanese Americans and all people of Japanese ancestors were located and they could notmove from that place, if they moved and didn’t tell the government, they could be accused of disloyalty to the nation. Most of the evacuated were from the west coast, according to the statistics, “1,207,700 men captured the pacific coast, and signed the order 9066 approximately 120,000 Japanese were forced to relocate from the region and sent to internment camps; when from these people removed 62%were US citizens” (Okihiro and Sly). On the other hand, also from the people evacuated to the camps most of them came from the west coast, where there was concentrated the major population of Japanese Americans. However, all those Japanese living on Hawaii were not subject to the evacuation. They were closer to Japan than any other into the country.
Apparently, internment camps weren’tconcentration camps like in Germany, but the conditions were a little similar. The lack of many services made people find a way to survive; the government didn’t provide enough food for these people, which cause many of them die. Many of the internees talked about the bad conditions of the camps, but a trustworthy source like the 1943 War Relocation Authority, reports that, “Internees were housed intor-paper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind” (Japanese American internment camps). Some factors involved with the suffering and death of Japanese were the lack of services, which combined with the negative attitude of the government and the location the internment camps, ended with Japanese lives. On the other hand, the children of the...
Regístrate para leer el documento completo.