Japanese Internment Camp Essay Example

Japanese Internment Camps The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many Americans were afraid of another attack, so the state representatives pressured President Roosevelt to do something about the Japanese who were living in the United States at the time. President Roosevelt authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to designate military areas as exclusion zones, from which any or all persons may be excluded. Twelve days later, this was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast. This included all of California and most of Oregon and Washington. Because of this order, 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the U.S. were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps. The United States justified their action by claiming that there was a danger of those of Japanese descent spying for the Japanese. However more than two-thirds, approximately 62 percent, of those interned were American citizens and half of them were children. None had ever shown disloyalty to the nation. In some cases family members were separated and put in different camps. Only ten people were convicted of spying for the Japanese during the entire war and they were all white people. None of them were Japanese. Because of the wartime hysteria and prejudice, many Japanese people were forced to leave their homes and go to the intern camps. However, the military officials were concerned about the loyalty of Japanese descendants. They were considered to be security risks. These concerns were based more on racial bias than on actual risk. There is a quote from the administrator of the internment program, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt. He testified to congress that "I don't want any of them persons here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty. It makes no difference whether or not he is an American citizen, he is