Term paper on Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

RESOURCE GUIDE

Japan ‘s attack on Pearl Harbor aggravated existing anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States , particularly on the West Coast, where most Japanese Americans lived and where sabotage and an attack by Japan were most feared. President Roosevelt in February 1942 ordered the evacuation of more than 100,000 Nisei (Japanese born in the United States ) and Issei (emigrant Japanese) to internment camps farther east, an action later upheld by the Supreme Court ( Korematsu v. United States , 1944). First forced to sell or entrust their possessions, the internees endured humiliating camp conditions. Nonetheless, many Japanese American youths volunteered for military service. All internment camps were closed by late 1944. In 1983 Congress awarded roughly $20,000 to each internment survivor.
Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Were Japanese Americans a threat to the nation’s security after Pearl Harbor ?

2. Analyze why the decision was made to intern Japanese Americans.

3. Discuss the reactions, then and now, of Japanese Americans to their internment.

4. Discuss the contributions of Japanese Americans to the war effort.

5. Discuss the opposition to the internment of Japanese Americans.

Suggested Sources : See also entries 42 and 46 for related items.

REFERENCE SOURCES

Encyclopedia of Multiculturalism . Susan Auerbach, ed. New York : Marshall Cavendish, 1994. 6 vols. Comprehensive reference source dealing with all aspects of pluralism, multiculturalism, and ethnology in the United States .

GENERAL SOURCES

Fremon, David K. Japanese-American Internment in American History . Springfield , NJ : Enslow, 1996. An easy-to-read and concise book about the roots and ramifications of the decision to imprison Japanese immigrants and Japanese American citizens during World War II.

O’Brien, David J., and Stephen S. Fugita. The Japanese American Experience . Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1991. Studies the history of Japanese Americans and Asians in the United States . Part of the publishers’ Minorities in Modern America series.

Takezawa, Yasuko I. Breaking the Silence: Redress and Japanese American Ethnicity . Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1995. Studies Japanese Americans in the Seattle area and how the internment affected their lives and ethnic identity. Part of the publisher’s Anthropology of Contemporary Issues series.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Baker, Lillian, and Karl R. Bendetsen. American and Japanese Relocation in World War II Fact, Fiction and Fallacy . Medford , OR : Webb, 1996. The only book on the relocation of Japanese, Germans, and Italians from West Coast military areas; explains the difference between a relocation center and an internment camp.

Daniels, Roger, and Eric Foner, eds. Prisoners without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II . New York : Hill&Wang, 1993. Explains how and why the incarceration of Japanese Americans occurred during World War II. Part of the publisher’s Critical Issue series.

Daniels, Roger, et. al. eds. Japanese Americans: From Relocation to Redress . Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1992. Collection of conference papers dealing with the evacuation and relocation of Japanese Americans and reparations.

Hata, Donald, et al. Japanese Americans and World War II: Exclusion, Internment and Redress . Wheeling , IL : Harlan Davidson, 1995. The narrative of Japanese Americans and their attempts for redress after World War II.

Hayashi, Ann K. Face of the Enemy, Heart of a Patriot: Japanese-American Internment Narratives . New York : Garland , 1995. Heartbreaking tales of Japanese Americans relocated in the internment camps.

Kashima, Tetsuden. Personal Justice Denied: Report on the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians . Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1996. Government report detailing numbers and locations of wartime relocations; also documents civil rights violations and redress under legislation of 1988.

Levine, Ellen. A Fence Away from Freedom: Japanese Americans and World War II . New York : Putnam, 1995. The bitter experience of thirty-five Japanese American children who were in the internment camps and their redress under the 1988 Civil Rights Act.

Nishimoto, Richard S., and Lane R. Hirabayashi. Inside an American Concentration Camp: Japanese American Resistance at Poston , Arizona . Tuscon: University of Arizona Press, 1995. Part of the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study by the University of California—an in-depth account of Japanese American work, leisure, and resistance to the policies of the War Relocation Authority.

Okihiro, Gary Y. Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II . Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1996. Haunting photographs, oral histories, and essays from family history and personal accounts of Japanese Americans at various detention camps throughout the West.

Taylor, Sandra C. Jewel of the Desert: Japanese American Internment at Topaz . Berkeley : University of California Press, 1994. Explores the impact on the Issei and Nisei of the San Francisco Bay area, with analysis of the associations and institutions that held the group together before the war. Examines the effects of internment on that network and the people who were part of it.

Weglyn, Michi Nishiura. Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America’s Concentration Camps . Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996. One of the most thoroughly documented accounts of Japanese American internment during World War II. Introduction by James Michener.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Drinnon, Richard, and Dillon S. Myer. Keeper of Concentration Camps: Dillon S. Myer and American Racism . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. Interesting biography of the man who was in charge of the relocation camps for Japanese Americans (and earlier ones for Native Americans).

Fiset, Louis. Imprisoned Apart: The World War II Correspondence of an Issei Couple . Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998. The wartime letters of a Japanese American couple during the internment. Part of the publisher’s Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies.

Ichihashi, Yamato. Edited by Gordon H. Chang. Morning Glory, Evening Shadow: Yamato Ichihashi and His Internment Writings, 1942–1945 . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996. Biographical narrative of the experiences and writings of the author during his internment. Part of the publisher’s Asian America series.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

World War II . Wynewood, PA: Schlessinger Media, 1996. Videocassette. Volume 19 of the 20-part United States History Video Collection. Japanese-American internment is one aspect of the war that is covered in this 35-minute video.

WORLD WIDE WEB

‘‘Links to Other Sites on the Japanese American Internment.” A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution . 1996. http://www.cruzio.com/ sclibs/history/ww2/links.html A lengthy array from the Santa Cruz Public Library of relevant web sites and documents treating every aspect of the internment.