Aim: Should the government restrict the rights of a group that it believes to be a threat?

5/1/2012

DO NOW: Complete DO NOW and copy AIM and Date.

Announcements:

HW #5 due Thurs at 11:59

Vocab sheet due 5/8

Mock Regents 5/9

Aim: Should the government restrict the rights of a group that it believes to be a threat?

February 27, 2009

An accused enemy combatant, who has been held for more than five years at a Navy brig in South Carolina, is expected to be sent to Illinois to stand trial in a civilian courtroom. The Justice Department has not yet announced charges against Ali al-Marri. The Bush administration had claimed terror suspects caught in the U.S. could be held indefinitely without charges.

Do you agree with the US government’s treatment of Ali al-Marri in order to prevent further terrorist attacks against the US?

Aim: Should the government restrict the rights of a group that it believes to be a threat?

Japanese in America• Over 100,000 Japanese immigrated to US from

1890s• Mostly resided on the west coast (California,

Oregon, Hawaii, etc)• The white Americans saw the Japanese as

economic competition for land and jobs, especially during the Great Depression -> “Yellow Flood”

• Anti-Japanese sentiment intensified after the bombing of Pearl Harbor

After Pearl Harbor, FDR declares of war on Japan

• Suspicion towards the Japanese grew out of fear that Japanese Americans were spying for Japan

• FBI raided over 1,000 Japanese Americans homes suspected of espionage

• Rarely any evidence proved Japanese Americans were spies

“Of all the races ineligible to [sic] citizenship, the Japanese are the least assailable and the most dangerous to the country. … They come … for the purpose of colonizing and establishing here the proud Yamato race. They never cease to be Japanese.”

-Valentine S. McClatchy,

A wealthy California Newspaper owner testifying to Congress

If you were Japanese American, and your neighbor and country accused you of being treasonous, what would you do?

Executive Order 9066

What is an Executive Order: a President's or Governor's declaration which has the force of law and does not require the consent of the legislature.

• Ordered by FDR• February 19, 1942• Removal of those of Japanese ancestry from

CA, WA, OR, & AZ.• 110,000 Japanese Americans removed from

their homes• 1/3- Issei- Immigrated from Japan• 2/3 – Nisei – 2nd generation (born in America)

How did the United States carry out the Executive Order?

Directions: While listening to the clips, take down notes on how the lives of Japanese Americans changed when FDR issued the Executive Order 9066.

FBI Raids Executing the Order Life in Camps

Internment Process• FBI raided many Japanese homes looking for

evidence against Japanese Americans, were unableto find any

• Internment was indefinite

• Internees were given 48 noticed to report to a bus terminal, bring all of their belongs, and then sent to an undisclosed location

• Most Japanese Americans were forced to sell all of their property & their possessions

Life in Internment Camps• Families were given barracks to live with little to

no privacy (curtains = walls)

• Weather was harsh and sickness was common

• Forbidden from leaving camps

• Children attended school in the camps

• Japanese were not used to the foods provided by the US Military

• Adults were given jobs, mostly producing materials for war

• Men were drafted to the military

Loyalty Oath: Check Yes or No

1. "Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty wherever ordered?"

____YES ____NO2. "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United

States of America and faithfully defend the United States from the Japanese Emperor any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience or any other foreign government, power, or organization?”

____YES ____NO

• Fred Korematsu was a U.S.-born Japanese American man who decided to stay in San Leandro, California and knowingly violate Executive Order 9066 because he refused to be separated from his girlfriend who was Italian-American.

• May 30, 1942, however, government authorities finally tracked him down.

• After his conviction in a federal court, the judge sentenced Korematsu to five years probation. The military immediately took him into custody and sent him to the relocation camp at Topaz, Utah. The American Civil Liberties

Korematsu vs. United StatesIssue

• The Court ruled on whether the President and Congress went beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent.

Argument

• Korematsu argued that the Executive Order violated his basic civil rights.

• While, the United States Government argued that the executive order was issued because it was extremely concerned about nation’s security.

Which side won? Why?

4 Corners Debate1. Was the U.S. Government justified in interning people of

Japanese descent?

2. During “times of war” should the government have unlimited power if it is aimed to protect America and its citizens?

3. In 1988, Ronald Reagan issued a formal apology to the Japanese American interned at the Camps. In addition he signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (the Japanese American Redress Bill) which provided compensation of $20,000 for each victim of the internment. Was this sufficient to make amends for the internment?

4. Could this is happen again? Why or why not?

Aftermath