Evaluating the Japanese Internment during World War II
Introduction:
Throughout U.S. history, decision makers have been challenged by questions about what constitutes
fair and just actions during times of war. For example, the government has had to consider the extent of
citizens’ rights in a democracy during wartime. To safeguard American security, can the government of the
United States carry out actions that violate the rights of American citizens? Or may the Constitution never
be violated, even under wartime circumstances?
Several presidential administrations have been challenged by these questions. During the American
Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the jailing of thousands of men who were living in the
North and suspected of being Southern sympathizers. Many were never given a hearing in a court of law.
When, shortly thereafter, Supreme Court Judge Roger Taney issued an opinion stating that Lincoln was
violating the Constitution by carrying out these jailings, Lincoln ignored him. From President Lincoln’s
perspective, it was more important to save the Union than it was to protect the rights of some individuals
during the war. Woodrow Wilson, the president during World War I, believed that only a united country
could achieve victory. During the war, Congress passed the Espionage Act, which called for penalties to
anyone who used “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the U.S. government, flag, or
uniform. Under this act, 1,100 copper miners were arrested in Arizona and held in New Mexico for holding
up war production. Eugene Debs, a socialist, spent three years in jail for criticizing the war effort.
Constitutional questions such as these were certain to arise during World War II. After the bombing
of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the government feared further attacks on U.S. soil. These fears raised the issue of
the possible presence of enemy collaborators among the over one million people of German, Italian and
Japanese descent then living within the United States. Many of these people were noncitizens—primarily
due to immigration laws that made citizenship difficult or impossible—who lived in easily identifiable
ethnic neighborhoods within the confines of many American cities. The Government had to determine
whether their presence threatened national security.
World War II Policies:
In January 1942, all enemy aliens (non-citizens from Germany, Italy, and Japan) were required to
register at local post offices around the country. As enemy aliens, they were required to be fingerprinted,
photographed, and carry their photo-bearing “enemy alien registration cards” at all times. In the months
immediately after the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pear Harbor, hundreds of Italians were
arrested. By June 1942, the total reached 1,521 Italians arrested by the FBI. About 300 individuals were
interned for up to two years in military camps in Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
At the start of World War II, under authority of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the United States
government detained and interned over 11,000 German enemy aliens. They were all either former civilians
or citizens of Germany. Their ranks included immigrants to the U.S. as well as visitors stranded in the U.S.
by hostilities. In many cases, the families of the internees were allowed to remain together at internment
camps in the U.S. In other cases, families were separated. Limited due process was allowed for those
arrested and detained. A total of 11,507 Germans were interned during the war, accounting for less than
10% of the total internments under the Justice Department’s Enemy Alien Control Program.
However, the harshest treatment by far was reserved for the Japanese. On February 19, 1942,
Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 under which all Japanese, regardless of citizenship, age, gender,
place of birth, or pronouncements of loyalty, were taken into custody and interned. Since Executive Order
9066 did not specify any particular race or ethnicity, it is not certain that this was the outcome Roosevelt
expected. Executive Order 9066 was written broadly and could have been used against any American.
Furthermore, the president’s instructions to those in charge of internal defense were ambiguous and open to
interpretation. As the policy to intern Japanese was being formulated, Roosevelt relayed a message to
military headquarters at the Presidio in San Francisco that stated “Go ahead and do anything you think
necessary [to protect the West Coast from potential Japanese spies and sabotage]… if it involves citizens,
we will take care of them, too. There will probably be repercussions, but it has got to be dictated by
military necessity…be as reasonable as you can.” Due to the broad application of the Executive Order, over
110,000 Japanese Americans were relocated to remote internment camps for most of the war.
Americans were divided in their judgment about how the internment was carried out. Assistant
Secretary of War John Cloy praised the military in June 1942, writing, “I wonder if anyone realizes the
speed and humanity with which the evacuation of the Japanese has been handled by the Army on the West
Coast? I am struck with the extreme care that has been taken to protect the persons and goods and even the
comforts of each individual.” Historian Eugene Rostow vigorously disagreed. In 1945 he stated that “Our
wartime treatment of Japanese aliens and citizens of Japanese descent on the West Coast has been hasty,
unnecessary and mistaken. The course of action which we undertook was in no way required or justified by
the circumstances of the war.” In 1944 Ansel Adams, a famous photographer, authored a book, Born Free
and Equal, with pictures of the internment camp at Manzanar located in the desert in eastern California. It
represented strong criticism of the government’s policies. Many Americans burned the book.
In 1988 President Ronald Regan signed legislation that awarded $20,000 to every surviving Japanese
American who had been interned. In signing House Bill 442—so named to remind Congress of the courage
and valor of all-Japanese 442nd Regiment—Regan said, “We are here to right a grave wrong…It is not for
us to pass judgment on those who made mistakes. And yet the internment was just that—a mistake.” The
first payments were paid to those 80 years and older in October 1990.
Journal #4: Japanese-American Internment Questions: (Answer on your journal paper using
complete sentences.)
1. Prior to World War II, what examples are there of the president seemingly violating the rights of
citizens during times of war?
2. Define “enemy alien.”
3. At the beginning of the war (January 1942), what were enemy aliens required to do?
4. How many Italian Americans and German Americans were interned during World War II?
5. What was Eugene Rostow’s opinion of the Japanese American internment?
6. Why do you think the Japanese were singled out for all-ages internment?
7. How could Executive Order 9066 have been carried out differently in order to lessen the hardships
placed on Japanese Americans during WWII?
8. Do you think that the U.S. government’s decision to pay reparations and apologize was the right
thing to do? Why or why not?