Pearl Harbor Effects On Japanese Americans Essay

On December 7,1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes bombed the American naval base, Pearl Harbor. This devastating attack left a remarkable impact on American citizens. A widespread fear of Japanese attacks swept across the nation and people turned their hatred and hostility towards Japanese Americans. Strong prejudice led to many horrific displays of racism towards Japanese, which sent the U.S. into a frenzy. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. This was the United States initial entry into World War II. Officials and U.S. citizens began to demand the relocation of Japanese away from the West Coast because this area had become an important military zone and Japanese Americans were

The government quickly declared war on Japan and shortly after President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This immediate reaction from the government shocked many Japanese Americans: “What was most striking (and infuriating) to many Japanese Americans was the speed and assurance with which the FBI and Naval Intelligence moved to arrest…In five days following Pearl Harbor, the FBI rounded up 1,370 Japanese on the West Coast.” This executive order became justification for the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans and resident aliens from Japan. Over one-third of U.S. land had become exclusion zones and about 127,000 Japanese were relocated and forced into internment camps. The majority were American citizens of Japanese ancestry. The stated incentive for this order was to protect national security but the relocation of over 120,000 Japanese Americans and resident aliens was a gross overreaction. It had blatant disregard for the rights of thousands of Japanese Americans and there was never any verifiable proof to suggest that Japanese Americans were any threat to the United States. Assistant Attorney General Edward Ennis wrote in a memo to the president, “My last advice from the War Department is that there is no evidence of imminent attack and… that there is no evidence of planned