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Japanese internment camps in canada
Japanese internment camps in canada
Japanese internment camps in canada
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Despite the justifications government have provided, they still fail to justify the actual treatment that Japanese Canadians themselves endured during the duration of the second world war. Evacuation entailed all Japanese Canadians to be move into a “protected zone” 100-miles away from the west coast, no more than 24 hours notice was given to the Japanese citizens about the evacuation. Consequently, this meant that the Japanese citizens did not have enough time to make arrangements for, to secure, or sell the property they could not take with them. Not to mention the government already confiscated their fishing boats and other property they deemed to be dangerous, such as radios, cameras, and firearms. The government assured Japanese Canadians
The unjust punishment of citizens that was allowed by the War Measures Act was iniquitous. When it was used in World War One, World War Two and the October Crisis, it led to the unjust punishment of Canadians by causing the internment of “enemy aliens” as well as the forced to registration with the government. In World War One, Canada had been in war with Germany, Austria, Hungary and Ukraine therefore immigration from there was suspended and people from there were considered “enemy aliens” and were interned. This meant that they had to register with the ...
The period of 1914 to 1939, Canada’s immigration policy got very unfair. Changes were made to the Immigration Act in 1914 that allowed the rejection of anyone from any race that was deemed unsuitable for Canada’s requirements. Also, in that same year, the Komagata Maru came to the coast of Vancouver. It was a ship that carried many from Punjab, India. The ship wasn’t allowed to dock and passengers weren’t allowed to disembark off the ship. The ship hadn’t sailed directly to B.C. from India so only 24 passengers were allowed to disembark; most of them were doctors or Canadian citizens already. Another act to keep out unwanted immigrants from Canada was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923. This act came into effect on July 1st, 1923. It banned all Chinese immigrants from entering Canada, except merchants, diplomats and foreign students. Before the Chinese Exclusion Act was put into place, the Chinese had to pay a head tax of $500 just to get into the country. The numbers of Japanese immigrants were also restricted. The Canadian government restricted only 150 Japanese immigrants to come to Canada in a year. In 1925, the government relaxed restrictions on immigrants coming from many countrie...
The discrimination suffered by the “ethnic Canadians” increased during the war was inflicted by both society and the government. An example of the discrimination suffered by “ethnic Canadians” is Sarah Mann, a Canadian-German living though World War 1. Before the people of the town knew she was of German descent, she lived a normal life. But, that all changed when they found out; they vandalized her house by breaking the windows, painting harsh words in red paint or blood, which is overall person to person discrimination. However, throughout the war, it was not just the Canadian-Germans who suffered from discrimination, all ethnicities either than English-Canadian or French-Canadian. Also, they did not only receive discrimination through vandalism, and other person to person discrimination, “ethnic Canadians” faced discrimination by the Canadian government. The governments’ discrimination was caused by the pressure of frightened public experiencing panic because of the Great War. Therefore, the government took action by passing the Wartime Elections Act and the Wartime Measures Act. The Wartime Elections act meant the “ethnic Canadians” would lose their right to vote. The “ethnic Canadians” would also be put into concentration camps or have to register to the police on a regular basis. The historical significance...
What were the Japanese internment camps some might ask. The camps were caused by the attack of Pearl Harbor in 1942 by Japan. President Roosevelt signed a form to send all the Japanese into internment camps.(1) All the Japanese living along the coast were moved to other states like California, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. The camps were located away from Japan and isolated so if a spy tried to communicate, word wouldn't get out. The camps were unfair to the Japanese but the US were trying to be cautious. Many even more than 66% or 2/3 of the Japanese-Americans sent to the internment camps in April of 1942 were born in the United States and many had never been to Japan. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestors and they were suspected of being spies to their homeland of Japan. Japanese-American World War I veterans that served for the United States were also sent to the internment camps.(2)
Japanese Internment Camps Ten weeks after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) singed an Executive Order of 9066 that authorized the removal of any people from military areas “as deemed necessary or desirable”(FDR). The west coast was home of majority of Japanese Americans was considered as military areas. More than 100,000 Japanese Americans was sent and were relocated to the internment camps that were built by the United States. Of the Japanese that were interned, 62 percent were Nisei (American born, second generation) or Sansei (third-generation Japanese) the rest of them were Issai Japanese immigrants. Americans of Japanese ancestry were far the most widely affected.
“They spoke of the Japanese Canadians,'; Escott Reid, a special assistant at External Affairs, would recall, “in the way that the Nazi’s would have spoken about Jewish Germans.'; Just like in that statement, I intend to expose you to the ways that the Japanese were wronged by Canadians throughout the Second World War. As well, I intend to prove what I have stated in my thesis statement: After the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the Japanese in Canada were wronged by being torn from their homes to be put into internment camps to serve Canadians through hard labour.
The fact that there was a need for the Canadian government to seize all of their property, itself shows how terribly they were treated and cared about. Likewise, if the Canadian government was suspecting Japanese-Canadians of being spies and reporting back to Japan for the war, the need to seize their property would be irrelevant and just another excuse to confiscate all of their property and torment them, which left them distraught. For this reason, the Canadian government may have purposely not revealed all of the information to the media. It is evident that Canadians did not want Japanese-Canadians in their midst since they were in a constant fear of disloyalty and fear as they were afraid of being sabotaged by Japanese-Canadians. The abolishment of possessions left Japanese-Canadians with little to no money to support their family.
It was December 8th, 1941, the day after the attack in Pearl Harbour, that the Canadian government imposed the War Measures Act which changed the lives of more than 21000 Japanese Canadians forever (Paolini). The War Measures Act allowed the government to impose certain conditions on the population in times of crisis. This gave the government the power to intern the Japanese-Canadians during World War Two. These Japanese-Canadians were first tar...
The horrors of racial profiling during World War II had always seemed to be distant to many Canadians, yet Canada was home to several xenophobic policies that were a violation of many rights and freedoms. One of the cruelest instances of this was the Japanese Canadian internment. At the time, the government justified the internment by claiming that the Japanese Canadians were a threat to their national defense, but evidence suggests that it had nothing to do with security. The government made illogical decisions in response to the mass panic and agitation in British Columbia. To aggravate the situation, Prime Minister William Mackenzie King reacted passively to these decisions, as it was not in his best interests to be involved. Moreover,
In 1945 Japanese-American citizens with undisrupted loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast, but not until 1946 was the last camp closed. The government of the U.S. tried to blame the evacuations on the war, saying they were protecting the Japanese by moving them. The government made statements during this time that contradicted each other. For example, Japanese-Americans were being called “enemy aliens” but then they were encouraged by the government to be loyal Americans and enlist in the armed forces, move voluntarily, put up no fight and not question the forced relocation efforts (Conn, 1990). Stetson Conn (1990) wrote “For several decades the Japanese population had been the target of hostility and restrictive action.”
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States was filled with panic. Along the Pacific coast of the U.S., where residents feared more Japanese attacks on their cities, homes, and businesses, this feeling was especially great. During the time preceding World War II, there were approximately 112,000 persons of Japanese descent living in California, Arizona, and coastal Oregon and Washington. These immigrants traveled to American hoping to be free, acquire jobs, and for some a chance to start a new life. Some immigrants worked in mines, others helped to develop the United States Railroad, many were fishermen, farmers, and some agricultural laborers.
America is one word that brings the hope of freedom to many people around the world. Since the United States’ humble beginnings freedom has remained at the core of its ideologies and philosophies. People of all races, nations, and tongues have found refuge in America. The National Anthem proclaims, “…land of the free, and home of the brave” (Key, 1814). But has America been consistently a land of the free? Unfortunately freedom has not always reigned. There is a constant struggle to overcome fear and prejudice in order to provide a true land of freedom. In times of heightened tension, the masses of common people seek to find a scapegoat. Often, this scapegoat is a minority with ties to current negative events. As fear uncontrollably grows, it can cause people to allow and commit unspeakable atrocities.
The problem with Japanese American treatment during World War II was harsh and cruel but was approved of at the time. The japanese descendants were taken from their homes and businesses because the government had passed a law that said the Japanese Americans had to move inland to safe camps that were ready for them. The truth was that the government and the military was scared of the Japanese Americans going to fight with the japanese. Some may of wanted to go peacefully but others did not want to leave everything behind, there were protests from the Japanese Americans, that are listed in multiple documents, in which they wanted to stay by the coast. The government had made it sound as if the movement was like a wonderful vacation where everything was taken care of and the living conditions were amazing but the conditions were actually rough and cruel but everyone thought the government was treating them kindly.
When forced to relocate, Japanese Americans were not guaranteed the protection of their property, as a result, they were forced to sell much of their possessions at low prices. One postwar study estimates that Japanese Americans lost $347 million from loss of income and property. Forced relocation was carried out thoroughly, to an absurd degree, almost akin to Jim Crow laws. People who were a little as 1/16th Japanese or previously unaware of their Japanese heritage were subjected to “evacuation.” Even Japanese American infants were not spared, being taken from both foster homes and orphanages.
They faced much discrimination and racism as they were banned to work on certain positions, they were not allowed to vote, and they were not eligible for social assistance, among other things. As the war broke out even more, the racist Canadians believed that the Canadian government was being too sympatric towards the Japanese in the country. Most believed that many Japanese men were secret spies helping the Japanese at war. These people influenced the idea to move Japanese-Canadians into a small place by justifying it that it was for their own safety. As they were sent away, all their possessions, for example, their houses or any personal goods among other things, had been confiscated. The conditions in these camps were not great either. They were crowded and were primitive with no electricity or running water and also