Research Essay: Japanese American Internment Camps

“ We hold these truths to be self - evident that all men are created equal”. As Americans we are to stay true to this quote in our constitution. It’s written that all men and women are to be treated fairly no matter their skin color. All people of America are to be treated equally and everyone is entitled to the same rights. This is what is written, but do we follow it? In 1941 American rights were tested when Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor sent a wave of fear across the nation causing nothing but panic. So the government did what they thought was best. While the United States had differing reasoning for the creation of internment camps and the conclusion within those camps were less horrifying than other camps around the world during World War two, no nation was justified in the relocation and imprisonment of human beings.

“The roundups began quietly within 48 hours after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. The announced purpose was to protect the West Coast.”- said T.A Frail.Protecting the American people was the government's plan. So why were the Japanese Americans an exception to protecting the people? The Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to the west to “protect” the other people of America. This plan installed more fear. These were citizens of America that were being sent away and taken from their homes, from their lives that they've worked to build.

Camps in other countries were created from pure hatred . According to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ,these camps were created “ To incarcerate people whom the Nazi regime perceived to be a security threat.” People in these camps were forced to do deadly labor. Children were forced to work like a healthy adult would. Children dug ditches and parents and adults built random buildings. On Top of the hard labor that was forced upon them , they were starved . Many were starved to death , if not starved to death they were killed from intensive working conditions. 

Over 127,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during this time period. The question was why. According to U.S history Pre- Columbian to the new millenium, the Japanese Ameicans were imprisoned because “ they were suspected of remaining loyal to their ancestral land.” The American government and people had to reasoning to imprison these citizens. The choice to imprison innocent people was all based upon fear. The fear that all of them would turn their back on the Americans and help the Japanese. 

Concentration Camps in other countries were all similar . Each camp was surrounded by barbed wire and guards.All of these camps stripped people of their families and caused fear and suffering within the people. The only difference with the Concentration camps and the Japanese Internment camps was the slight difference in violence. The Internment camps may not have killed as many people, and may not have burned people alive  like some of the camps but they still stripped people of their rights. These internment camps dehumanized the Japanese Americans and took away their rights as American Citizens. 

After a long three years of waiting the war had ended. The Prisoners were finally released from the horrid camps. They had spent so long that some kids felt they were leaving home, when released.“The war relocation authority had sent each person home with train fare and twenty- five dollars in cash.”- Julie Otsuka. These people that were imprisoned had to restart their life from the ground up, and all they got was twenty- five dollars. Twenty- five dollars to feed their children, fix their houses that were destroyed while they were forced to go to a prison. They were forced into camps, stripped from their homes, and all rights were stripped from them. And when the war was complete all they got was a train ticket, some money and an apology.  

The people treated others like aliens when arriving home. Julie Otsuka in the novel the Emperor was Divine on page 115 she said, “ now when we ran into the same people on the street they turned away and pretended not to see us”. For three years these people had to live in stables with nothing, they had to raise their children and try to make the most out of everything. When they finally got to come home to the people they thought they knew, they were turned away and looked at like the enemy. The American people didn’t make it easy, it was almost impossible to get a job after being a prisoner. With no job the Japanese Americans had no way to try and rebuild their lives. The war heroes were given parades and love and support from the people. While the Japanese - Americans that were locked up for three years stood still trying to figure out how to support themselves.

In other camps around the world, many were killed of sickness, worked to death, and others were shot or burned alive . Some who people called the “lucky ones” died of age when they got their. The other concentration camps left people without family and filled with fear. Many were too weak to make it back home. People feared racism more after the hate from the German concentration camps. The camps deeply impacted the views of people all around the world. According to Densho “There were seven confirmed cases of deaths by gunfire inflicted”. Although these camps weren’t as violent as the Concentration camps, they still used violence. Concentration camps may have lost more lives but they both were involved in violent activities, and people still lost their lives.

All camps no matter what you call them were wrong. The people of Germany and other countries outside of America, conducted these camps out of hatred for one race. They were more violent and murdered for fun.The American government was wrong for imprisoning the Japanese American people to “protect” the other civilians. Yes they released them following the war after realising their mistakes, but the constitution says“ We hold these truths to be self - evident that all men are created equal”. No matter the race no American citizen should be treated like a prisoner unless proven guilty. While the United States had differing reasoning for the creation of internment camps and the conclusion within those camps were less horrifying than other camps around the world during World War two, no nation was justified in the relocation and imprisonment of human beings.