Japanese Internment
After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast. This relocated over 120,000 mostly American people to one of the 10 interment camps located across the country. Some Japanese-American citizens were allowed to return to the West Coast beginning in 1945. The last camp closed in March 1946. In 1988, Congress awarded payments ot each survivor of the camp.
The relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps was one of the most serious violations of civil liberties in American history. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, rumors spread that a plot among Japanese-Americans to sabotage the war effort. The Roosevelt administration was pressured to remove persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast by farmers seeking to eliminate Japanese competition. After Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, it forced all Japanese-Americans, regardless of loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. Ten internment camps were established in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas, eventually holding 120,000 people. Many were forced to sell their property at a severe loss before departure. 3,600 Japanese-Americans entered the armed forces from the camps, as did 22,000 other who lived in Hawaii or outside the relocation zone.
The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the relocation order in Hirabayashi v. United States and Korematsu v. United Stares. In 1945 Japanese-American citizens of undisputed loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast. In 1948, a law provided reimbursement for property losses by those interned. In 1988, Congress awarded restitution payments of twenty thousand dollars to each survivor of the camps; it is estimated that about 73,000 people will eventually receive this compensation for thew violation of their liberties.
The relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps was one of the most serious violations of civil liberties in American history. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, rumors spread that a plot among Japanese-Americans to sabotage the war effort. The Roosevelt administration was pressured to remove persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast by farmers seeking to eliminate Japanese competition. After Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, it forced all Japanese-Americans, regardless of loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. Ten internment camps were established in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas, eventually holding 120,000 people. Many were forced to sell their property at a severe loss before departure. 3,600 Japanese-Americans entered the armed forces from the camps, as did 22,000 other who lived in Hawaii or outside the relocation zone.
The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the relocation order in Hirabayashi v. United States and Korematsu v. United Stares. In 1945 Japanese-American citizens of undisputed loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast. In 1948, a law provided reimbursement for property losses by those interned. In 1988, Congress awarded restitution payments of twenty thousand dollars to each survivor of the camps; it is estimated that about 73,000 people will eventually receive this compensation for thew violation of their liberties.