Japanese Internment Camps Dbq

Americans were divided about Japanese internment when it was occurring and Americans today are still divided. In the beginning of World War II, approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to relocate to internment camps. President FDR signed the Executive Order 9066 which made them evacuate the West Coast in which they resided in. This order was signed two months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Some believe that this was necessary to make America more secure but the internment camps were unconstitutional and unfair to the Japanese.
The Japanese internment camps in the United States were unjust for many reasons. For one, the ten camps that the Japanese Americans were forced to live in had filthy and
5). The camps were also infested with disgusting creatures. “We had to make friends with the wild creatures in the camp, especially the spiders, mice, and rats, because we were outnumbered…” There were too many animals compared to humans at the camps and they made the conditions even worse than they already were. In addition, there was always a stench of horse manure which attracted horseflies every year (Doc. 6). The state of the internment camps provided a horrible lifestyle for the people living there. Apart from these terrible conditions, forcing the Japanese Americans to leave their homes in the first place was not right. Most of the Japanese interned were American citizens that were innocent. “...I’m an American citizen, not found guilty of anything and having to bear this type of treatment.” They had to go through gruesome conditions when they had shown no signs of evil purpose in the United States. “The Exclusion act uprooted innocent people…and interned us without giving us our rights” (Doc. 8). The Japanese were not given any choice or freedom; they had to move to the internment camps which was unjustifiable
People thought that the Japanese Americans would eventually work with their home country to attack us from the inside. “The very fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken” (Doc. 2). They believed that since no sabotage had occurred in the United States yet that it was bound to happen. There was a fear of this throughout the country. Additionally, some people believed that moving the Japanese Americans was the safest option for them as well. People thought that if the Japanese stayed in the combat areas on the West Coast, then there would be more danger than if they were forced to leave. “The least act of sabotage might provoke angry reprisals that easily could balloon into bloody race riots” (Doc. 3). If any sabotage were to take place in the war zones, it could spark into something more hazardous. Other Japanese Americans could join the initial saboteurs which would cause even more deaths. American troops would have to fight against the saboteurs killing more Japanese Americans and American soldiers. If all Japanese left the area and were confined to the internment camps, then there would be no risk of sabotage or race riots in battle zones. That way, both Japanese Americans and Americans would be safe from any possible danger that would have