The Japanese Camps In California Summary

The social climate in California was very unwelcoming to non-American immigrants from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. Racial prejudice against Asian immigrants began during the Gold Rush in California in 1848. Japanese immigrants were heavily recruited in the mining industry, however this caused hostility among the whites and Californios; with a more diverse population competition increased causing a white mans job to be taken, old miners were pushed out and for the first time California Indians were out numbered. As the population increased and became diverse anti-Japanese groups emerged and created movements and networks to limit the Japanese immigrants access to legal and economic equality with whites.

As the population changed discrimination

became even more prominent as one of the most important discriminatory laws became the stepping stone to unwelcome the Japanese. The foreign miners tax of 1850 which targeted Spanish speaking people in California, this law placed a $20 monthly fee on anyone who was not an American citizen. The tax was designed to discourage immigration by removing economic incentives however, racial animosity grew and white workers felt threatened by the Mexicans and Chinese for their cheap labor. The law was successful in which many families went in debt and Mexican miners refused to pay the $20 fee. Mexican workers decided to leave the mines making the Chinese the largest nonwhite group of miners. As a result, anti-Chinese sentiment rose in 1852 when the foreign miners tax of 1850 was revised. California asserted control over the immigrants when the anti-Chinese legislation enacted the 1852 tax in which it targeted Asians. The tax put a $3-$4 monthly fee on aliens ineligible for citizenship.
Japanese immigrants began arriving in small groups to California in the 1800s alarming local citizens who feared their optimism. According to Jonathan Thorndike, “the Japanese were excellent workers and became one of the most successful immigrant groups in America, many native-born Americans resented their presence in the United States. A wide range of political organizations and activist groups formed coalitions to push for laws restricting the rights of Japanese immigrants and their children at the local, state, and federal levels” (Anti-Japanese movement: www.immigrationinamerica.org). American workers believed that the Japanese would take the jobs that belonged to them which caused them to form anti-Japanese groups.
The first significant anti-Japanese group was the Asiatic Exclusion League which was organized in 1905 in California. The AELs main purpose was to stop Japanese immigration and to prevent the Japanese residents from integrating into society. The organization characterized the Japanese as unfair competition; in 1906 the San Francisco school board issued a segregation order which forced Japanese children to segregate schools. Many Japanese parents became angered since the schools consisted of mostly white children and this was a way to show the Japanese that whites inferior. The government discussed many international relation regarding Japanese immigrants; according to Brian Niiya, “after delicate diplomatic negotiations, the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907-08 was negotiated between the United States and Japan, whereby Japan agreed to stop issuing passports to laborers headed for the United States” (Japan American History: www.books.google.com). The Gentlemen’s Agreement drastically reduced new immigration, but anti-Japanese sentiment continued to increase in California. The AEL pressured the government to pass new laws to restrict Japanese immigration even more during the 1900s. For example, Jonathan Thorndyke states, “these anti-Japanese groups wanted to pass a law requiring that immigrants be able to read English, which many of the Japanese were unable to do. The AEL argued that Japanese workers sent their earnings back home instead of spending their money in the United States. Moreover, they believed that Japanese workers were willing to accept lower wages and unsafe working conditions” (Anti-Japanese movement: www.immigrationinamerica.org). Anti-Japanese degraded the Japanese for their low standard living and inability to become American, they wanted to make a law designed to make it illegal for Japanese immigrants to become permanent residents. The anti-Japanese sentiment knew how to make the Japanese people feel unwelcome, so the state passed the Webb-Hartley Law of 1913 which was also known as the Alien Land Law. This law prohibited foreigners to purchase real estate or lease land for longer than three years. Many Japanese parents were forced to put their property in their American born children's name. Laws were also passed prohibiting Asians from owning businesses.
The anti-Japanese sentiment resulted in many laws to prevent future immigration, however in the years leading up to World War II Chinese immigrants suffered which in turn caused the government to further diminish the Japanese completely from the United States.

The anti-Japanese sentiments became even more prominent with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. In Mark Weber’s essay “The Japanese Camps in California (www.ihr.org)” he describes the fear the government had of all Japanese people also including Chinese and Asian; Americans felt unsafe and perceived the Japanese as a threat. On February 19, 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9066 authorizing all Japanese residents to evacuate from their homes establishing internment camps. Families were torn apart, their property and belongings were destroyed and all financial assistance for families were frozen. Many adults and children became ill and many died for lack of medical care. The evacuation was made to protect US citizens from possible sabotage. Many asked to be let go, however they were forced to fill out loyalty questionnaires. The questionnaires asked many personal questions including if they were spies, what they would do for Japan, if they would join the US military, for example, “Question 28 was even more complex: Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States... and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, to any other foreign government, power or organization? Many internees feared this question was a trap. Would a yes answer indicate that they had once sworn allegiance to Japan? Some refused to answer, or answered no to both questions, as a matter of principle. For Issei, who had been denied U.S. citizenship on the basis of race, the issue was even more complex, because either response could conceivably make them stateless” (Loyalty Questionnaire: www.amhistory.si.edu). Many found these questions to be unconstitutional and would prove

to be no evidence of them being a Japanese spy. Japanese immigrants felt deceived, they believed that this could never be the “American way”, they would never be able to live the American dream because of racial discrimination and America not being able to look beyond race. The questionnaire was used as a way of punishment, another mean of segregation and also family separation, according to Weber, the harsh living conditions at the camps became unbearable for most. With 120,000 Japanese detained and condemned to camps they were surrounded by barbed wire and the buildings were covered in tarred paper causing many children and elder’s to become ill without the heat. Japanese began to protest to be let out however this caused an outbreak of violence, dozens were shot and wounded, 8 killed, many were brutally beaten and seriously injured and others committed suicide because of the lost hope.
The social climate of the Japanese in 1800s-1900s prevented the Japanese from becoming equal to whites in race, prohibiting them from owning land, immigrating into the United States, children learning at the same school as whites and they were forced out of their homes. Many anti-Japanese sentiments in California made sure that the Japanese did not feel welcome at any circumstance. Many believe that the anti-Japanese sentiment is one of many factors that led up to the war. Although many Japanese immigrants tried to fight back, the anti-Japanese sentiment was very successful in making them feel unwelcome.