Japanese American History Terms

Front

Alien

Back

A foreign-born resident who is not a citizen of the country where they live. In the early 1900s, Japanese people who immigrated to the US could not become citizens and were therefore considered aliens.

Front

Assembly Center

Back

Term used by the government to describe temporary government facilities used to detain Japanese Americans before they were sent to incarceration camps.

Front

Citizen

Back

A member of a state (country) entitled to certain rights and protections.

Front

Concentration Camp

Back

Places used to detain and confine large numbers of people such as refugees, ethnic or religious minorities, or political prisoners under armed guard.

Front

Deportation

Back

The expulsion of a person or a group of people from a place or country.

Front

Executive Order 9066

Back

An executive order written by President Franklin Roosevelt that granted power to the Secretary of War and his subordinates to exclude 'any or all persons' from designated areas.

Front

House Resolution 4103

Back

Also known as the Renunciation Act of 1944, this law allowed US citizens to renounce their citizenship when the country was in a state of war. The law was repealed in 2013.

Front

Incarceration

Back

Confinement in jail or prison, typically after an individual has been charged with a crime.

Front

Internment

Back

Confinement with no formal charges during wartime. In the US, legal internment applies to citizens of nations with which the US is at war.

Front

Issei

Back

A Japanese term meaning first generation, used to describe the generation of Japanese Americans who immigrated to the US.