Japanese Internment Camps

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Japanese Internment Camps

• EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066February 19, 1942 
• After Pearl Harbor, FDR orders that all Japanese
  Americans be taken away from their homes and put
  into internment camps.
• Whereas, the successful prosecution of the war
  requires every possible protection against
  espionage and against sabotage

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Why did the U.S. relocate Japanese Americans to
internment camps during WWII?
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"At Gila, there were 7,700 people crowded into
space designed for 5,000. They were housed in
messhalls, recreation halls, and even latrines.
As many as 25 persons lived in a space intended
for four."
"I remember the soldiers marching us to the Army
tank and I looked at their rifles and I was just
terrified because I could see this long knife at
the end . . . I thought I was imagining it as an
adult much later . . . I thought it couldn't have
been bayonets because we were just little kids." 
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In 1943 all internees over the age of seventeen
were given a loyalty test. They were asked two
questions 1. Are you willing to serve in the
armed forces of the United States on combat duty
wherever ordered? (Females were asked if they
were willing to volunteer for the Army Nurse
Corps or Women's Army Corp.) 2. Will you swear
unqualified allegiance to the United States of
America and faithfully defend the United States
from any or all attack by foreign or domestic
forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or
obedience to the Japanese emperor, to any other
foreign government, power or organization?
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• Civil Liberties Act of 1988
• "a grave injustice was done" and mandated
  Congress to pay each victim of internment 20,000
  in reparations.

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Japanese Internment How did our Gov. get away
with this?

• Read the handout (do not write on it, used for
  other classes)
• 1.) 112,000 Japanese will be relocated during
  WWII? Name another time in history when
  something like this happened?
• 2.) What is the main constitutional issue with
  interning Japanese citizens?
• 3.) Make a list of the justifications How did
  our democratic government justify this action?