After the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States Defense Command and people in the West Coast were convinced that Japan was going to launch naval raids on the United States, and that Japanese Americans in this country were spies supporting the raids. 

On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving the Army permission to round up some 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese descent (two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, many were born here), and put them in internment camps. They were given 24 hours to gather their belongings. Initially, they were allowed one suitcase per family, later, one suitcase per person and had to leave the rest of their belongings behind. Many lost all their life savings. Most of them were interned for three to four years in camps spread out in the western states (Northern California, Arizona, Arkansas…)

Did you learn about this in high school?

In your opinion, were there any justifications for the action?  If there were, what were they?  Fear, anger, revenge, and/or racial discrimination? 

Read the attached articles and other articles in this unit, and do research on this topic.