It is important to understand the history of Anti-Asian sentiments and the history of laws that restricted Asian Americans in the United States well before Executive Order 9066 was enacted. If you look at The Chinese Exclusion Act – which was passed in 1882, it suspended immigration for ten years (and was repeatedly renewed), required Chinese people to carry documentation at all times, and refused Chinese people the ability to become naturalized citizens.
Chinese Americans were also not allowed to testify in court. This law wasn’t revoked until 1943. The Gentlemen’s Agreement which was an informal agreement between the US & Japan in 1907 where the US wouldn’t publicly ban Japanese immigrants and Japan wouldn’t send Japanese immigrants looking for work. Due to this restriction and strict immigration laws passed in the 1920s, by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor there were about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in the mainland of the United States along the West coast. Statistics show that 2/3 of that number were American citizens who had been born and raised in the US. After the attack on Pearl Harbor – political debate began about the need to protect the country against another attack from the Japanese, the fear of espionage, and racism all led to the eventual passage of a series of executive orders – the most egregious being Executive Order 9066. Prior to the forced removal from the West Coast, assets were frozen and the FBI led by J. Edgar Hoover had compiled a list of about 1500 people of Japanese ancestry that the FBI believed needed to be watched. These individuals were arrested the day after the attack. Many of them remained detained for the duration of the war. In addition, On January 14, 1942, FDR issued Executive Order 2537 which required non-U.S. citizens from World War II-enemy countries—Italy, Germany and Japan—to register with the United States Department of Justice. They were then issued a Certificate of Identification for Aliens of Enemy Nationality. Then came Executive Order 9066. This granted the secretary of war and his commanders the power “to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded.” There were no specific individuals or locations listed in the order. It was broad and left up to interpretation. FDR’s thinking was that key areas essential for both the war effort and safety of the nation would be chosen. Instead, it was quickly applied to just about the entire Japanese American population on the West Coast. The Secretary of war at the time was a man by the name of Henry Lewis Stimson. He had been Sec. or War under President Taft, Sec. of State under Herbert Hoover and again Sec of War under FDR. He was a conservative Republican. Military advisors pushed for legislation to protect the West Coast. Stimson was initially against Japanese incarceration but eventually gave in to the demands of military leaders. The largest population of Japanese living in the US were in the Hawaiian Islands which was a territory of the US – not a state yet. The large numbers of people of Japanese ancestry made up the majority of the workforce on the islands. They could not be removed – it would have had devastating political and economic effects on the island. Japanese immigrants to Hawaii were prohibited from becoming citizens. The big question was how do you determine someone’s loyalty? Can you ask them? Can you believe their answer? Do you get them to prove it to you? How can they prove it to you? What would be enough? I mentioned earlier that Executive Order 9066 was left up to interpretation and the military generals in charge of making sure it was followed made those interpretations. General John Dewitt was a 3 star US Army General. He believed the Japanese people living along the west coast were conspiring against the US and needed to be removed. There were many others who believed this as well as the time. In order to conduct this removal of people from the west coast. The War Relocation Board was created.
Military Areas 1 and 2 were created and consisted of California and parts of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Japanese Americans living in these zones would be scheduled for "evacuation." On March 18, 1942, the WRA was formed via Executive Order 9102, with Milton S. Eisenhower as the original director. Now that name should sound familiar. He was the younger brother of future President Dwight Eisenhower. He wanted to limit the incarceration of Japanese to men only and allow women and children of Japanese ancestry to remain free. Governors of states feared the backlash of allowing Japanese Americans or immigrants to live amongst the general population of the state. Milton Eisenhower resigned after 90 days. He was replaced by Dillon S. Myer. He would eventually see the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans as a mistake but the damage had been done. Ten camps were eventually created. Japanese Americans and immigrants had to leave their homes immediately. Some only had two days to sell what they could and bring only what they could carry. Most had 6 days to do this. Prior to arrivals at camps, Japanese Americans and immigrants were brought to what was known as Assembly centers. Now, I want to make sure you understand the usage of terms. Assembly centers are what the government used to describe these places. It gives the idea that this is a building equipped to handle this mass movement of people and to provide adequate housing. They were far from it. The majority of these assembly centers were once racetracks or fairgrounds. Stables and livestock areas were cleaned out and families of up to six people were put in these living areas. Then they had communal bathrooms, laundry rooms and mess halls. Gone was the family unit, gone was your business and beautiful home. Now you are living where animals had been not too long ago. There were jobs available at Assembly Centers. The thought was that the individuals at these camps should not be paid more than an Army Private. So if you were a doctor, a teacher, or a laborer you were all paid the same amount as an army private. At some locations many people worked making camouflage nets.
Following the Executive Order, American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry living in Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona were ordered to evacuate their homes and businesses and report to 17 temporary “Assembly Centers” located at fairgrounds, racetracks, and other makeshift facilities. At these centers, which essentially served as temporary detention facilities, a family usually lived in a single horse stall for up to 100 days with straw filled bags for beds. The horse stalls were hastily cleaned out before being used as living quarters, and the stench of manure and urine remained. Shortages of food and other materials and deplorable sanitation conditions were common at many of the centers. From these centers, the incarcerated Japanese Americans were then sent to one of ten War Relocation Centers.
The War Relocation Centers were located in inland areas away from population centers, frequently on land already owned by the federal government with good transportation linkages. They were designed to be self-contained communities, complete with hospitals, post offices, schools, warehouses, offices, factories, residential areas and farm areas. Of the ten camps constructed, two each were located in California, Arizona, and Arkansas, and one each was located in Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado and Utah. Two of the camps in Arizona were located on Native American lands. Tribal leaders naturally protested but they were overruled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The layout of the camps varied, but certain elements were consistent, including a perimeter defined by guard towers and barbed wire fences. Main roads in the centers were occasionally paved, but most side streets were unpaved and as a result alternated between being muddy or dry and dusty depending on the weather.
30,000 were children, most who were school aged were incarcerated in the camps. Schools were built and teachers brought in to teach. During WWII there was a national teacher shortage. Class sizes were large with most elementary school classes having 48 students per class. Teachers were required to live in the camps and were paid 3 times the salary than regular teaching jobs. The difference was if you were a Japanese American and hired as a teacher, then you were paid the same as an Army private. Along with schools, each camp had farmland and livestock – detainees were required to grow food and take care of the livestock. Each camp was surrounded by barbed wire and had guarded towers with armed men. Riots broke out in some camps because of overcrowding and insufficient rations. Some people were shot for walking too close to the fences. Despite the harsh living conditions, Japanese-Americans in the camp were determined to make the camps feel like a community. Newspapers were established, clubs, sports teams – especially baseball teams were created.
One of the most well-known of the camps was Manzanar which was located in California by the Sierra Nevada mountains. Manzanar was the first of ten camps that would open and operate until the end of WWII. It is also one of the best preserved of the camps. Over 10,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated at Manzanar. The extreme weather in the area made life especially difficult. Temperatures in the summer would get as high as 100 degrees and the winter would bring snowfall and temperatures in the 30s. The barracks had partitions in the sleeping quarters but not to the ceiling and the bathrooms didn’t have partitions in the stalls or in the showers. There was a total lack of privacy. How many people would feel comfortable living day in and day out for years in that type of a setting. Constantly waiting in lines to eat, to shower, to do laundry. Meal times were strict – food was only served during meal times for an hour. Sometimes people had to eat outside regardless of the temperature. Due to rationing, meals often didn’t include meat.
Tule Lake however was the most infamous. Originally it was similar to the other 9 camps until in 1943 when the US Government mandated that each adult in the camp answer a loyalty questionnaire. Two questions caused some confusion. One asked if they were willing to serve in the armed forces wherever necessary and the other question asked them to swear allegiance to The United States. Now imagine you’ve been forcibly removed from your home with days’ notice, had to sell your property, your business if you were able to, you lost your job. The majority of your possessions and you’ve been incarcerated. Now, you’re being asked, will you enlist in the military and die for this country who has done this to you? Will you swear allegiance to this country? For those who said no to these questions either because they didn’t understand what was being asked or because they were angry they now were going to be segregated at Tule Lake. Inmates at other camps who were thought to be disloyal or who had protested conditions in any way were then sent to Tule Lake.
Tule Lake however was the most infamous. Originally it was similar to the other 9 camps until in 1943 when the US Government mandated that each adult in the camp answer a loyalty questionnaire. Two questions caused some confusion. One asked if they were willing to serve in the armed forces wherever necessary and the other question asked them to swear allegiance to The United States. Now imagine you’ve been forcibly removed from your home with days’ notice, had to sell your property, your business if you were able to, you lost your job. The majority of your possessions and you’ve been incarcerated. Now, you’re being asked, will you enlist in the military and die for this country who has done this to you? Will you swear allegiance to this country? For those who said no to these questions either because they didn’t understand what was being asked or because they were angry they now were going to be segregated at Tule Lake. Inmates at other camps who were thought to be disloyal or who had protested conditions in any way were then sent to Tule Lake.
