Maison Cox
Mr. Kerr
English II
April 9, 2018
Japanese Internment Camps
During World War II the United States Government created relocation camps for Japanese American citizens and ordered more than 110,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry to leave their homes and many of their belongings behind. This caused many racial and civil rights issues during this time (Lange). Many of them traveled by bus or train to the internment camps. They were kept in off the grid, military style camps even though the majority of them were born in America and had not been charged with espionage. They were moved in 1942 on suspicion that some may have been working for our opponent in the war, Japan, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There were ten camps total; Manzanar, Tule Lake, Minidoka, Heart Mountain, Topaz, Granada, Poston, Gila River, Rohwer, and Jerome. These camps were located in multiple states across the western side of the country. Many camps were located in the desert heat. Multiple families often shared the housing, so privacy was not common. There was no running water inside each barrack, but faucets on the outside. In the beginning, while buildings for the restrooms were still being built, the residents had to use portable restrooms. These people slept on metal army cots using a canvas bag filled with straw as their mattresses (Nagano 6). Classrooms for the children had also been built, as there were not a copious amount of resources the children still got an education and were able to participate in other school activities like dances and graduations. Children would play games and do normal kid things. Adults would work, and help out where they could (Myers). There were doctors on the camps in an effort to keep everyone healthy. It was difficult for some to leave their homes without knowing how long they would be gone. Many would face discrimination after leaving the camps for being of Japanese ancestry from other people. The government created the camps in an attempt to keep the country safer so some of the Japanese Americans in the camp did not know any better but to think they were helping out.
Works Cited
Lange, and Dorothea. “Women Come to the Front Dorothea Lange.” Dorothea Lange - Women Come to the Front | Exhibitions (Library of Congress), Library of Congress, 27 July 2010, www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0013.html.
Myers, Roger, and Stuart Glogoff. “At Work in the Relocation Camps.” War Relocation Camps in Arizona 1942-1946, Through Our Parents' Eyes, parentseyes.arizona.edu/wracamps/work.html.
Nagano, Momo. “Manzanar ID Card.” pp. 3–9., www.nps.gov/manz/forteachers/upload/Nagano%20M.pdf.
Rubric rating submitted on: 4/16/2018, 8:18:30 AM by [email protected]
Mr. Kerr
English II
April 9, 2018
Japanese Internment Camps
During World War II the United States Government created relocation camps for Japanese American citizens and ordered more than 110,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry to leave their homes and many of their belongings behind. This caused many racial and civil rights issues during this time (Lange). Many of them traveled by bus or train to the internment camps. They were kept in off the grid, military style camps even though the majority of them were born in America and had not been charged with espionage. They were moved in 1942 on suspicion that some may have been working for our opponent in the war, Japan, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There were ten camps total; Manzanar, Tule Lake, Minidoka, Heart Mountain, Topaz, Granada, Poston, Gila River, Rohwer, and Jerome. These camps were located in multiple states across the western side of the country. Many camps were located in the desert heat. Multiple families often shared the housing, so privacy was not common. There was no running water inside each barrack, but faucets on the outside. In the beginning, while buildings for the restrooms were still being built, the residents had to use portable restrooms. These people slept on metal army cots using a canvas bag filled with straw as their mattresses (Nagano 6). Classrooms for the children had also been built, as there were not a copious amount of resources the children still got an education and were able to participate in other school activities like dances and graduations. Children would play games and do normal kid things. Adults would work, and help out where they could (Myers). There were doctors on the camps in an effort to keep everyone healthy. It was difficult for some to leave their homes without knowing how long they would be gone. Many would face discrimination after leaving the camps for being of Japanese ancestry from other people. The government created the camps in an attempt to keep the country safer so some of the Japanese Americans in the camp did not know any better but to think they were helping out.
Works Cited
Lange, and Dorothea. “Women Come to the Front Dorothea Lange.” Dorothea Lange - Women Come to the Front | Exhibitions (Library of Congress), Library of Congress, 27 July 2010, www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0013.html.
Myers, Roger, and Stuart Glogoff. “At Work in the Relocation Camps.” War Relocation Camps in Arizona 1942-1946, Through Our Parents' Eyes, parentseyes.arizona.edu/wracamps/work.html.
Nagano, Momo. “Manzanar ID Card.” pp. 3–9., www.nps.gov/manz/forteachers/upload/Nagano%20M.pdf.
Rubric rating submitted on: 4/16/2018, 8:18:30 AM by [email protected]