Japanese Internment Camps Dbq

Internment of Japanese Americans

In the midst of WWII, the U.S. trust of Japan spiraled downward as explosions flew over Pearl Harbor. On December 7,1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. After the attacks, the Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps. They were removed from their homes, and placed in homes and camps on the Pacific Coast. Many people argued whether the internment of Japanese-Americans was justified or not justified. The internment of Japanese-Americans was definitely justified because the U.S. needed to protect the West Coast, the U.S. wasn’t taking any chances during WWII, and the Japanese could help the U.S. with the war efforts.
The U.S. needed the secure the West Coast during WWII. After all, Japan just bombed

Pearl Harbor. Doc D states that,”Compulsory exclusion of large groups of citizens from their homes, except under circumstances of direct emergency and peril, is inconsistent with our basic governmental institution,” (Black 4). This quote is explaining that taking large groups of citizens and moving them is unconstitutional, except in times of danger such as Pearl Harbor. There was many dangers on the West Coast, and the U.S. needed these issues with the Japanese squared away. Doc A states that,”Intelligence service records reflected the existence of hundreds of Japanese organizations in California,Washington,Oregon, and Arizona which, prior to December 7,1941 were actively engaged in advancing Japanese war aims,”(DeWitt 1). This explains that there was many Japanese organizations on the West Coast that were helping the Japanese war efforts. They moved the Japanese to internment camps to keep the organizations from doing more damage on the Pacific Coast. Organizing the Japanese into one place also took the threats and put them in one place. Now, there could be no more threats, and the West Coast would be secure.
When moving the Japanese to internment camps, the U.S.

was not going to take any chances. After all, the fate of the country was in their hands. Doc B says,”It is easy to get on the suspect list, merely a speech in favor of Japan at some banquet being sufficient to land one there,”(Munson 2). The U.S. was not going to take any chances with Japanese suspects. The people were easy to put on the suspect list, but from this list they could diagnose the real threats to United States safety. Also, when the suspects were in the camps, they could not communicate with anyone from Japan to do anything more to the U.S. Pacific Coast. This also kept United States military bases safe on the West Coast, because there could be no breaking into them. A report written by Lt. Gen. Dewitt states that,”Their (Japanese-Americans) loyalties were unknown and time was of the essence,”(DeWitt 1). This reasons that the Japanese loyalties were not known by many people at the time. The U.S. wasn’t going to take any chances with their loyalties, and move them immediately. The Japanese could have been armed, dangerous, and looking to wreak havoc on the U.S. Pacific Coast, and the United States was not going to take any

chances.
The Japanese-Americans could help the war efforts for the U.S. Since WWII started, America was in need for supplies such as food and weapons. The Japanese could help them in the plantations that the government will provide for them in the internment camps. Doc D says,”Citizenship has its responsibilities, as well as its privileges, and, in time of war, the burden is always heavier,”(Black 4). During times of war, people have many more responsibilities. One of them, for the Japanese, would be helping during the war efforts. The Japanese were farming their plantations before the relocation. Now, they could farm the land and help out with the war efforts.”video”(video). These large farms would make more for the Japanese to farm, and that means more food for the soldiers.
The internment of Japanese-Americans was justified by the United States. The U.S. needed to secure the coast because they had just been bombed at Pearl Harbor.The United States wasn’t going to take any chances with the start of World War II.Also, the Japanese-Americans could help the war efforts through farming plantations. Although the Japanese didn’t have any say in their move, the United States explanations were justified.

Works Cited
Black, Hugo, Chief Justice, Korematsu v.

United States, 1944
Dewitt, J.L., Lt. Gen. to the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, June 5,1943, in U.S. Army, Western Defense Command and Fourth Army, Final Report; Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast 1942, Washington D.C.: Govt. Printing Office, 1943, pp. vii-x
Howard, Harry Paxton, “Americans in Concentration Camps,” The Crisis, September 1942
"Japanese Internment Timeline." Sheg.stanford.edu. Stanford History Education Group, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Munson, Curtis B., delivered to President Roosevelt by Special Representative of the State Department Curtis B. Munson, November 7, 1941
"One Account. All of Google." Sign in. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Personal Justice Denied: The Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, February 24,

1983