Asian Americans Part 9

Made violations of military orders a criminal offense Gave legal enforcement to Executive Order 9066 This law allowed arrests and punishment for noncompliance.

1. Pearl Harbor

• Date: December 7, 1941

• What it was: A surprise military attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base in Hawaiʻi

• By whom: Japanese Imperial Navy

• Immediate result: U.S. entry into World War II

• Context:
  The attack triggered mass fear and anger. Although the attack was carried out by Japan’s military, suspicion quickly shifted to Japanese Americans living in the U.S., especially on the West Coast.

2. “Day of Infamy” Speech

• Date: December 8, 1941

• By whom: President Franklin D. Roosevelt

• What it was: Speech to Congress requesting a declaration of war

• Key phrase: “A date which will live in infamy”

• Context:
  The speech framed the attack as sudden and unprovoked. It helped create a climate where fear felt justified and extreme government actions seemed necessary.

3. “Fifth Column”

• What it means: A group inside a country secretly helping the enemy

• Context in slides:
  Japanese Americans were accused of being a potential “fifth column” for Japan

• Key fact:
  Intelligence agencies found no evidence of organized sabotage, but the accusation spread anyway

• Why it mattered:
  This idea justified treating an entire group as suspicious based on ancestry.

4. Executive Order No. 9066 (1942)

• Date: February 19, 1942

• By whom: President Franklin D. Roosevelt

• What it did:
  Gave the military authority to designate military zones and remove people

• Key detail:
  It never mentioned Japanese Americans by name

• Result:
  Used almost exclusively against people of Japanese descent

• Why it mattered:
  This was the legal foundation for mass removal and incarceration.

5. Executive Order No. 9102 (1942)

• Date: March 18, 1942

• By whom: President Franklin D. Roosevelt

• What it did:
  Created the War Relocation Authority (WRA)

• Purpose:
  To manage the forced removal, detention, and later resettlement of Japanese Americans

6. War Relocation Authority (WRA)

• Created: 1942

• What it was: Federal civilian agency

• Responsibilities:

  • Running incarceration camps

  • Providing food, housing, schooling

  • Managing labor and resettlement

• Context:
  The WRA framed incarceration as “relocation,” masking the reality of imprisonment.

7. Public Law 503 (1942)

• Date: March 21, 1942

• What it did:
  Made it a federal crime to violate military exclusion orders

• Why it mattered:
  Turned removal into a criminally enforceable action

• Context:
  This law punished resistance and made compliance mandatory.

8. Proclamation No. 1

• Date: March 2, 1942

• By whom: Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt

• What it did:
  Declared parts of the West Coast as military zones

• Context:
  First formal step toward mass exclusion.

9. Proclamation No. 2

• What it did:
  Expanded military zones

• Context:
  Increased the number of people subject to removal.

10. Proclamation No. 3

• What it did:
  Imposed curfews and movement restrictions

• Who it targeted:
  Japanese Americans

• Why it mattered:
  Treated them as dangerous before any crime was committed.

11. Proclamation No. 4

• What it did:
  Further enforced exclusion and removal

• Context:
  Prepared for full-scale evacuation.

12. Civilian Exclusion Order

• What it was:
  Official military orders requiring civilians to leave designated zones

• Context:
  Families were given days to prepare

• Reality:
  Loss of homes, farms, and businesses.

13. Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34

• Date: May 1942

• What it did:
  Ordered removal of Japanese Americans from Los Angeles

• Why it’s famous:
  One of the clearest examples of forced mass removal.

14. Temporary Detention Camps

• What they were:
  Short-term holding facilities

• Locations:
  Racetracks, fairgrounds

• Conditions:
  Crowded, unsanitary, degrading

• Purpose:
  Processing before transfer to permanent camps.

15. Permanent Detention Camps

• What they were:
  Long-term camps run by the WRA

• Locations:
  Remote deserts, swamps, isolated regions

• Features:
  Barracks, guard towers, fences

• Context:
  Designed to isolate and control.

16. Incarceration Camps

• What the term emphasizes:
  Lack of freedom

• Key point from slides:
  Japanese Americans were not prisoners of war but were imprisoned anyway

• Why the term matters:
  It challenges euphemisms like “relocation center.”

17. Munson Report (1941)

• By whom: Curtis B. Munson

• What it was: Intelligence investigation

• Conclusion:
  Japanese Americans posed no threat

• Context:
  Report was ignored after Pearl Harbor

18. Ringle Report – “The Japanese Question” (1942)

• By whom: Lt. Commander Kenneth Ringle

• What it was: Naval intelligence report

• The assimilation of Japanese Americans was successful

• 3% of the Japanese Americans posed a threat to national security

• Conclusion:
  Mass removal was unnecessary

• Why it mattered:
  Confirms incarceration was not based on evidence.

19. Final Report of 1943 (DeWitt)

• By whom: Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt

• What it argued:
  Japanese Americans could not be trusted because of race

• Key phrase:
  Loyalty could not be determined

• Context:
  Provided post-hoc justification for incarceration.

20. Loyalty Questionnaire (1943)

• What it was:
  Survey given to incarcerated Japanese Americans

• Key questions:

  • Willingness to serve in the U.S. military

  • Renunciation of loyalty to Japan

21. Resettlement

• What it was:
  Early release from camps

• Where:
  Midwest and East Coast

• Conditions:
  Background checks, job offers

• Context:
  Allowed dispersal but not full freedom.

22. 442nd Regimental Combat Team

• Who: Nisei soldiers

• What: U.S. Army unit

• Significance:
  Most decorated unit for its size

• Context:
  Fought abroad while families were incarcerated.

23. Japanese American Claims Act of 1948

• What it did:
  Allowed claims for wartime losses

• Limitation:
  Paid far less than actual damages

• Context:
  Acknowledged harm without full accountability.

24. “No-No” Boys

• Who:
  Those who answered “no” to loyalty questions

• Why:
  Protested incarceration or wording

• Result:
  Labeled disloyal and punished.

25. Draft Resisters

• Who:
  Japanese Americans who refused the draft

• Why:
  Challenged constitutionality of incarceration

• Consequence:
  Arrest, imprisonment.

26. Tule Lake Segregation Center

• What:
  Camp for “disloyal” detainees

• Conditions:
  Harsher rules, unrest

• Context:
  Used to isolate dissent.

27. Civil Liberty in Wartime

• Theme:
  Rights restricted during war

• Key issue:
  Fear overrides constitutional protections

• Context:
  Central lesson of the lecture.

28. Hirabayashi v. United States (1943)

• Issue:
  Curfew constitutionality

• Decision:
  Government upheld

• Context:
  Court deferred to military authority.

29. Yasui v. United States (1943)

• Issue:
  Same as Hirabayashi

• Decision:
  Curfew upheld

• Context:
  Reinforced wartime precedent.

30. Korematsu v. United States (1944)

• Issue:
  Constitutionality of exclusion

• Decision:
  Exclusion upheld

• Key warning (dissent):
  Decision created a “loaded weapon”

• Context:
  Most infamous case in this history.