Background
Summary and Questions •
Vocabulary
espionage
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descent
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executive order
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curfew
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internment
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The port of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by the Japanese in December 1941. After this, the American government was worried that the West Coast of the United States would also be attacked. Many Americans were angered by the bombing of Pearl Harbor and blamed Japanese Americans who were living in the United States. People thought that the many Japanese and Japanese Americans who lived there would help the Japanese military. But at the time, there was no known case of espionage from any person of Japanese descent.
In February, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order allowed the military to use curfews and to move Japanese and Japanese Americans to special camps. Japanese Americans were only allowed to bring very basic items with them. Moving people to camps is called internment.
Fred Korematsu was born in America and had Japanese parents. He wanted to be in the United States military, but he was not healthy enough. Korematsu did not want to go to the internment camps. He moved away and changed the way he looked to avoid the order. But he was arrested later and sent to a camp.
Korematsu took his case to the courts. He said that Congress, the President, and the military authorities didn’t have the power to send people to internment camps. He also said that the government was discriminating against him because of his race.
The government argued that the evacuation of all Japanese Americans was necessary because there was evidence that some were working for the Japanese government. The government said that because there was no way to tell the loyal from the disloyal, all Japanese Americans had to be treated as though they were disloyal.
The federal appeals court agreed with the government. Korematsu appealed this decision and the case came before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Questions to Consider:
- Why was Korematsu arrested?
- What sections of the U.S. Constitution give the Congress and President the war powers?
- The United States was also at war with Germany and Italy. But people of German and Italian descent were not gathered up for internment as a group like the Japanese. Why do you suppose the Japanese were treated this way?
- In times of war, governments have to balance national security with citizens’ rights. In your opinion, did internment of Japanese descendents strike a good balance?
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