Japanese American Internment

Japanese American Internment During WWII

Poll

Should the government be able to imprison people without any evidence of criminal activity?

(Be ready to share your why or why not with a partner)

• Yes

• No

Poll

Should the government be able to imprison people without any evidence of criminal activity if it's a time of war/crisis or if we were attacked?

(Be ready to share your why or why not with a partner)

• Yes

• No

​Japanese American Immigration

• ​Over 250,000 immigrants came to United States from Japan from 1860 to 1923. 

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• This migration ground to a halt with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, which outlawed nearly all Japanese immigration. 

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• By 1940, almost 130,000 people of Japanese origin or descent lived in the contiguous 48 states—with the highest populations in states on the West Coast—and over 150,000 lived in the territory of Hawaii. 

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Store run by Japanese immigrants in Honolulu (c. 1895-1910)

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• ​The Issei faced widespread discrimination when they came to the United States. Many of them found low-paying jobs harvesting sugar or other crops. 

• In 1900, Congress passed a law that prevented first generation Japanese from becoming U.S. citizens.

• ​The children of Issei (Nisei) were automatically citizens, yet the Nisei faced the same discrimination as their Issei parents

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​Alien Land Law of 1913 prohibited anyone of Japanese decent from owning land

• Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there began widespread distrust of Japanese communities (particularly on the West Coast)

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• ​​Feared families of Japanese descendants would work as spies or in cooperation with the Japanese government

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• ​On February 19, 1942, Executive Order 9066 forced over 100,000 Japanese-Americans from the West Coast into internment camps, which were labelled “War Relocation Camps.”

Executive Order 9066

Primary Source Analysis

• Use the primary sources posted around the room to answer the questions on your handout.

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• There are two sets of documents posted around the room so you can spread out. Work with your shoulder partner.

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• You'll have 2.5 minutes at each document to analyze and answer questions (we'll adjust if we need to)

Gallery Walk

Japanese American Internment By the Numbers

• ​Up to 120,000 mainland Japanese Americans were interned during WWII

• 62% of those interned were citizens

• ​1/16 Japanese heritage was all that was needed to be interned

• ​20,000 Japanese-American men served in the U.S. armed forces

• ​$148 million was claimed as property loss as part of American Japanese Claims Act of 1948, but only $37 million was approved and disbursed

• ​$20,000 was given to each living interned person in 1988

• In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau acknowledged it aided the "evacuation" by secretly releasing neighborhood data​

Your Exit Ticket is in Canvas​

Japanese Internment During WWII