Executive Order 9066 was a significant event in the history of the US and Japan, causing numerous ramifications for the Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans in the United States. This order was a direct authority to relocate the populations that could be potentially dangerous to the national security of the US. According to the document, enemy aliens were to be evacuated from the American West Coast to more remote locations. Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942, the order permitted the US military to move all enemy aliens from the shores and neighboring centers to West Coast (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). The purpose of the directive was to eliminate the potential risk of immigrants who could collaborate with Japan or, possibly, Germany and Italy to attack America during World War II (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). The order also allowed the US forces to gain easier access to war assets in the Pacific Coastal region, which was occupied by Japanese Americans at the time and complicated the process of ammunition retrieval.
Events Contributing to the Order
Before World War II, the American government grew cautious of possible enemy attacks. In December 1941, Japan attacked a US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii (Nagata et al., 2019). At that time, Japan intended to initiate a short-term conflict, weaken the US naval forces, and capture American oil supplies, which were crucial resources for both sides. However, approximately four months later, America bombed Tokyo as a reaction to the Pearl Harbor attack. Another two months later, the US navy surprised several Japanese fleets near Midway Island, winning the battle and gaining a significant advantage over the enemy (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). As a result, the government of Japan sent a warning to America, threatening to attack the country if such confrontations were to continue. President Roosevelt was seriously concerned by this message and attempted to address the potential consequences, thus declaring every Japanese national, immigrant, or Japanese American residing on the West Coast a potential threat to the nation (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). According to the established directive, the military gained the authority to relocate all enemy aliens who could potentially help the Japanese, Germans, or Italians to destroy America.
Events after Issuance of the Order
The American military started targeting people of Japanese descent or the Japanese immigrants living in Washington, California, and Oregon, among other West Coast ports. The department of Treasury froze the assets of all Japanese Americans. Department of Justice apprehended at least 1500 community and religious leaders of that particular ethnicity, terming them as dangerous aliens (Nagata et al., 2019). In a week, the military commanders in the area ordered the Nisei or the US-born Japanese to leave Terminal Island, California. On March 2, 1942, the army administrator issued a Proclamation one and later two, demanding that all people of Japanese descent leave the specific regions (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). The first evacuees’ trip ended at Manzanar War Relocation Center in the California desert. Over 100000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans, including men, women, and children, were moved to various assembly centers within six months (Karolin & Aden, 2021). These families were confined in fenced, guarded, and isolated camps called internments. On February 1, 1943, the government also allowed the Nisei to join the US army and fight during World War II (Nisei Veterans Legacy, n.d.). The events were devastating moments for the people of Japanese ethnicity.
Happenings during the Period of Order Enforcement
During the order enforcement period, 1942 to 1945, isolated Japanese families stayed in 10 campsites in six western states (National Archives, 2016). Following the heavy security enabled by the US army, no one was allowed to leave these camps. During the period, America was also involved in World War II (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). Japanese forces invaded the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in June 1942 but lost to the American forces (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). Several people who resisted the relocation order within the targeted regions were arrested and arraigned in court.
The Functioning of the Internments
In different sites and camps, the military forces allocated various resources to the Japanese families. Four or five families, together with their few possessions and clothing, shared tar-papered barracks that resembled the army’s (Nagata et al., 2019). While some families lived in such conditions for three years, others occupied less congested camps. The camps were fenced with barbed wire, guarded 24 hours a day, and the army had the permission to shoot and kill anyone who tried to escape (Nagata et al., 2019). With time, the military built insulated and lightweight partitions to the barracks on various sites. Families placed in the new camps felt somewhat private and were a little comfortable. Gradually, the evacuees created schools and attempted to establish familiar socializing routines. Funded by the American government, families ate from common facilities and shared restrooms (Nagata et al., 2019). The new community offered limited working chances, thus interrupting the immigrants’ cultural and social patterns. People who resisted army orders in these camps were sent to the internment in Tule Lake, California, where they lived alongside other enemy aliens.
Effects of Order 9066
During the evacuation, the affected populations lost the property they left behind. The army only allowed the Japanese to carry small luggage, meaning that the individuals lost most of their belongings. The businesses owned by Japanese nationals, immigrants, or Japanese Americans were taken by the US government. The victims also suffered from psychological torture following the relocation and continuous stress (Nagata et al., 2019). While in the camps, children and adults suffer from a lack of proper medical care and healthy food. According to Nagata et al. (2019), many men died in the internments from the military beatings. In general, the evacuees suffered from a lack of access to better living conditions. While some Japanese Americans moved to Japan after this experience, others sought to be identified as Americans.
Legal Challenge to Internment
Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American, filed a case against the American government over Executive Order 9066. The 23-year-old man resisted the military order to move to the internment camps (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). The FBI later arrested him, and the young man was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in court. Korematsu was tried in a San Francisco federal court and was found guilty of resisting the presidential order. In 1944, Korematsu appealed his case, but the Supreme Court’s ruling was divided (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). In 1983, the case was reopened by the federal court and ruled against the American government (Lau-Ozawa, 2019). However, even though the federal court decided that it was against the law to assume that the Japanese were a threat to America during the war, the Supreme Court’s decision was to be upheld.
Ending of Internments
Closer to the end of World War II and the execution of Order 9066, an opportunity to disband Japanese internment was becoming prevalent among the US government representatives. On December 18, 1944, the president announced the closure of various barracks (Sinlapasai-Okamura, 2021). Following this order, the Japanese immigrants were free to move from these sites but no longer had anywhere to call home. In 1946, the government issued an order to close the last barrack in Tule Lake (Karolin & Aden, 2021). In 1976, President Gerald Ford revoked Executive Order 9066, issued a public apology, and made arrangements to compensate the affected (Karolin & Aden, 2021). The reparations were also followed by several acts that sought to prevent such happenings in the future.
References
Karolin, A. J., & Aden, R. C. (2021). Identifying home: A narrative of Japanese American internment. Communication Quarterly, 69(2), 192-213. Web.
Lau-Ozawa, K. (2019). Dissonant memories of Japanese American incarceration. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25(7), 656-670. Web.
Nagata, D. K., Kim, J. H., & Wu, K. (2019). The Japanese American wartime incarceration: Examining the scope of racial trauma. American Psychologist, 74(1), 1-36. Web.
National Archives. (2016). Japanese-American Incarceration During World War II. Web.
Nisei Veterans Legacy. (n.d.) Nisei allowed to serve. Web.
Sinlapasai-Okamura, A. S. (2021). Internment: The legal challenges and effects of displacement on Japanese Americans. Young Historians Conference 2021.