Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, over 110,000 Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forcibly relocated to internment camps due to fears they may act as spies for Japan, despite no evidence of espionage. They were forced to sell their homes and businesses with little notice, and were transported by bus to barracks surrounded by barbed wire in isolated camps across the country, where they tried to maintain normalcy through schools and activities. The internment was later ruled unconstitutional and internees received a formal apology and compensation from the U.S. government in 1988.

1. Japanese
Internment
1942-1945

2. Following the attack on
Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941,
why do you think many
Americans were suspicious
of Japanese Americans?

3. Many people were afraid that Japanese
Americans that lived
on the West Coast might be
acting as spies helping
Japan attack the U.S.
HOWEVER…There was NEVER any
evidence that Japanese Americans
acted as spies during WWII.

4. Relocation
On February 19, 1942,
President Roosevelt issued
Executive Order 9066. This
forced Japanese Americans to
move from their homes to
“internment” camps.
This was to keep them
from spying by monitoring
their lives.
“Yellow Peril” became rampant
throughout the U.S.

5. 11,000 Japanese families had to sell
their homes and businesses to
relocate to these camps. Evacuees
were allowed to take only what they
could carry. What they couldn’t sell
was just left for the taking.

6. Japanese Americans were put on
buses and shipped to one of 10
relocation centers around the
United States.

7. The barracks were
surrounded by barbed
wire and overseen by
high wooden
watchtowers. Privacy
was almost nonexistent.
Evacuees tried to make
the best of it by living
their lives with some
degree of normalcy.
Schools, libraries,
sports teams, churches,
and Americanization
classes were created.

8. Originally, FDR
considered the relocation
“legal” under
constitutional powers
granted to the president
during times of war.
The Supreme Court
supported this claim in
the case of
Korematsu vs. U.S.
Later, this was overturned
and all camps were
closed by early 1945.
But did these
feelings just go
away???

9. An Apology
In 1988, the U.S.
government apologized
to Japanese Americans
for these internment
camps and paid all
internees $20,000.