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  • Essay / Japanese internment during World War II

    The social strife of World War II led to the evacuation of around 120,000 people due to recent disturbing events that sparked rumors of espionage and their Japanese ancestry. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 led the United States into World War II and dramatically changed the lives of many people of Japanese ancestry living in the United States. The attack increased racial prejudice and raised fears of potential sabotage or espionage by the Japanese American population living in the United States. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayIn response to the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, which authorized the Secretary to the War to establish military zones and expel from these zones any person likely to threaten war. The government gave all people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast only a few days to decide what to do with their homes, property, and belongings. Most families sold their homes and lost money due to the need to sell quickly. Some families rented their properties to neighbors, others left their belongings with trusted friends, and some families even abandoned their property altogether. It was a time of panic and confusion because people didn't know where they were going or how long they would have to stay there. Each family was given an identification number and loaded into cars, buses, trucks and trains, taking only the things they could carry with them. Next, Japanese Americans were taken to 17 different assembly centers located at racetracks, fairgrounds, and similar facilities. All this under strict military guard. From the assembly centers they were then transferred to one of 10 rapidly constructed resettlement centers, with resettlement completed by November 1942. In total there were 10 war resettlement centers which were all built in areas remote areas with difficult living conditions, particularly in deserts, plains and swamps. As the camps were located in these remote and isolated areas, summer temperatures reached 110ยบ and in winter temperatures dropped below freezing. Resettlement centers were built in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. Manzanar (one of the Ten Relocation Camps), located in California's Owens Valley between the Sierra Nevada to the west and the Inyo Mountains to the east, was representative in many ways of the Ten Camps. Approximately two-thirds of all Japanese Americans interned at Manzanar were born American citizens. The final third consisted of foreigners, many of whom had lived in the United States for many years but were still denied legal U.S. citizenship. The first Japanese Americans to arrive at Manzanar, in March 1942, were people who had volunteered to build the camp. The Manzanar camp consisted of 500 acres of housing surrounded by barbed wire and 8 guard towers equipped with searchlights monitoring the camp. All of this was patrolled by military police. The remaining 5,500 acres were used for military police housing, a reservoir, a sewage treatment plant, and agricultural land. In September 1942, more than 10,000 Japanese Americans lived in 504 crowded barracks organized into 36 blocks. 200 to.