Japanese Internment (executive order 9066)

Essay by JnfrsLilSisterA+, September 2006

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The signing of Executive Order 9066 and the internment of Japanese Americans has been a focus of debate for many years. In the cases that have been brought up, the government argued that what they were doing was justified and that it was a "military necessity." The government believed the Japanese Americans to be a threat to society and that their internment was necessary to protect the people of the United States. However, the signing of Executive Order 9066 was a grave mistake because it undermined the Japanese American populous.

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led many people to suspect and to discriminate against Japanese Americans. "A Jap's a Jap! It makes no difference whether or not he is an American or not," stated Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt. "The Japanese are cowardly and immoral. They are different from Americans in, every conceivable way, and no Japanese who ever lived anywhere should have a right to claim American citizenship," said Tom Stewart, a Tennessee Senator.

Because of such comments, and the stories that the Japanese were plotting an attack on USA, President Roosevelt passed Executive Order 9066. This began the relocation of Japanese Americans from their homes and relocating them into camps where they would reside until the government decides otherwise.

Because the Executive Order 9066 was passed, all Japanese Americans had their constitutional rights violated. Japanese Americans were denied the freedom of speech because they could not talk in their native language and constantly had to use English. The 4th Amendment was also denied to them:

"FBI searched homes of Japanese Americans often without search warrants, seeking any items identified as being Japanese. Items which appeared as contraband such as short-wave radios were confiscated." (Japanese American Internment)

Japanese Americans could not vote...