Japanese Internment Camps
Will Behrens
Ms. Heiar
Comm. Arts
Jan. 13th, 2015
“ I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted to share with more people.” -George Takei
George Takei spent 4 years locked up as a boy in Japanese Internment Camps through WWII. The U.S. saw Japan as a threat, so they put all the Japanese-Americans into Internment Camps. After the U.S. entered WWII, Japanese-Americans were put into Internment camps throughout the west coast because the U.S. government thought that they were a threat to society. As American citizens, these people lost their rights and it is an example of a social injustice.
Once Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, it all went down. The U.S. went into the war not because of Hitler, because of Japan’s bombing. On August 18th, 1941, John Dingell suggests imprisoning Japanese-Americans.(4) Then, in February 19th, 1942, president Roosevelt signs the Exclusion Order 9066 which bans the Japanese from the West Coast.(5) Then the camps started to open.
The first camp, Manzanar, CA, was opened in March 21st, 1942 and closed in November 21st 1945. The population was 10,046. The next camp was Poston, AZ. Opened in May 8th 1942 and closed in November 28th 1945. The population for the camps is 17,814. Some other camps include: Camp Tule Lake, Camp Gila River, Camp Minidoka, Camp Heart Mountain, Camp Amache, Camp Rohwer and Camp Jerome.(4) So now you know the camps, but why was it a horrific event?
Inside the Japanese Internment Camps, the Japanese had very awful conditions. They were barely fed, had rock-hard beds and had to work all day. Before coming to the camps, the Japanese had to leave their families, homes, jobs and/or businesses.(2) The Japanese in the camps basically became hopeless prisoners with nothing. After WWII, what happened to the Japanese?
All the camps were closed in 1945, when WWII ended.(1) The WRA announced that all camps would be closed before 1945 on December 18th 1944.(4) On January 2nd 1945, the Exclusion Order 9066 was put to an end. 43 years later, Congress awarded each Japanese survivor twenty thousand dollars; an estimated 73,000 Japanese lived.(2) Some Japanese are still trying to recover today, I support helping the ones in need and have come up with a plan to help.
I have thought up with the idea of sending money to children across the world. For 1 week, I have a plan to advertise around the school and around the neighborhood. This will get people to donate to the website. The donations will be made to: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.B143/Official_USA_Site.htm?msource=wewscwww1112
Here, your money will go to the children around the world to help with education, protection and health. 89.4% of your money goes directly to helping children. And that other dime? That helps to operate the mission. This is an organization that you can trust.
Japanese Internment Camps were an example of an social injustice because Japanese people in America lost their equal rights. Once Japan bombed Pearl Harbor Hawaii, Japanese-Americans were put into Internment camps on the west coast because the United States saw Japan as a threat. I believe that this was a moment of weakness for the U.S. because they put the threat in captivity. It is important to me because no one wants to die for their race, and so it never happens again. George’s quote at the beginning of the essay showed me that my boyhood was free and that we should savor every moment of our lives.
Will Behrens
Ms. Heiar
Comm. Arts
Jan. 13th, 2015
“ I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted to share with more people.” -George Takei
George Takei spent 4 years locked up as a boy in Japanese Internment Camps through WWII. The U.S. saw Japan as a threat, so they put all the Japanese-Americans into Internment Camps. After the U.S. entered WWII, Japanese-Americans were put into Internment camps throughout the west coast because the U.S. government thought that they were a threat to society. As American citizens, these people lost their rights and it is an example of a social injustice.
Once Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, it all went down. The U.S. went into the war not because of Hitler, because of Japan’s bombing. On August 18th, 1941, John Dingell suggests imprisoning Japanese-Americans.(4) Then, in February 19th, 1942, president Roosevelt signs the Exclusion Order 9066 which bans the Japanese from the West Coast.(5) Then the camps started to open.
The first camp, Manzanar, CA, was opened in March 21st, 1942 and closed in November 21st 1945. The population was 10,046. The next camp was Poston, AZ. Opened in May 8th 1942 and closed in November 28th 1945. The population for the camps is 17,814. Some other camps include: Camp Tule Lake, Camp Gila River, Camp Minidoka, Camp Heart Mountain, Camp Amache, Camp Rohwer and Camp Jerome.(4) So now you know the camps, but why was it a horrific event?
Inside the Japanese Internment Camps, the Japanese had very awful conditions. They were barely fed, had rock-hard beds and had to work all day. Before coming to the camps, the Japanese had to leave their families, homes, jobs and/or businesses.(2) The Japanese in the camps basically became hopeless prisoners with nothing. After WWII, what happened to the Japanese?
All the camps were closed in 1945, when WWII ended.(1) The WRA announced that all camps would be closed before 1945 on December 18th 1944.(4) On January 2nd 1945, the Exclusion Order 9066 was put to an end. 43 years later, Congress awarded each Japanese survivor twenty thousand dollars; an estimated 73,000 Japanese lived.(2) Some Japanese are still trying to recover today, I support helping the ones in need and have come up with a plan to help.
I have thought up with the idea of sending money to children across the world. For 1 week, I have a plan to advertise around the school and around the neighborhood. This will get people to donate to the website. The donations will be made to: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.B143/Official_USA_Site.htm?msource=wewscwww1112
Here, your money will go to the children around the world to help with education, protection and health. 89.4% of your money goes directly to helping children. And that other dime? That helps to operate the mission. This is an organization that you can trust.
Japanese Internment Camps were an example of an social injustice because Japanese people in America lost their equal rights. Once Japan bombed Pearl Harbor Hawaii, Japanese-Americans were put into Internment camps on the west coast because the United States saw Japan as a threat. I believe that this was a moment of weakness for the U.S. because they put the threat in captivity. It is important to me because no one wants to die for their race, and so it never happens again. George’s quote at the beginning of the essay showed me that my boyhood was free and that we should savor every moment of our lives.