Government Rights and Civil Rights During Times of War
Sequence of Events Leading to the Japanese Internment
December 7, 1941
At dawn on December 7, 1941, Japanese bombers staged a surprise attack on U. S. military and naval forces in Hawaii. In a disastrous and humiliating defeat. According to the records of the Joint Committees of Congress, United States suffered 3,435 casualties and loss of or severe damage to 188 planes, 8 battleships, 3 light cruisers, and 4 miscellaneous vessels. |
"Japanese raids on the West Coast seemed not only possible but probable in the first months of the war." Secretary of War Henry Stimson
December 8, 1941
On December 8, 1941 at 12:30pm. , Roosevelt's Joint Address to Congress and the Nation via radio requesting Congress to declare war between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
On December 8, 1941 at 4pm, President Roosevelt signed the declaration of war. |
"Historians have demonstrated that the power of the executive branch of the US federal government tends to expand during wartime. "
Joshua Gannis, The Court, The Constitution and Japanese-American Internment
Joshua Gannis, The Court, The Constitution and Japanese-American Internment
February 19, 1942
On February 19th, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 "authorizing and directing the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders" power to "prescribe military areas" from which civilians might be excluded for reasons of national defense.
On March 18, 1942, President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9102. This order created the War Relocation Authority. "This executive agency was empowered to relocate the people identified by military commanders under Executive Order 9066." [4] On March 21, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Public Law 503 . This order authorized the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland.
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March 24, 1942
General DeWitt announces a daily curfew from 8:00p.m. until 6:00a.m.. "All persons of Japanese ancestry living within Military Area I, which comprised the entire Pacific coastal region, were required to stay indoors."
May 9, 1942
General DeWitt ordered the "removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry from Military Area I. They were sent to internment camps after checking into a "civilian control center."
General DeWitt announces a daily curfew from 8:00p.m. until 6:00a.m.. "All persons of Japanese ancestry living within Military Area I, which comprised the entire Pacific coastal region, were required to stay indoors."
May 9, 1942
General DeWitt ordered the "removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry from Military Area I. They were sent to internment camps after checking into a "civilian control center."
May 30, 1942
After evading Public Law 503, Koremastu was arrested, jailed, and convicted in a federal court.
After evading Public Law 503, Koremastu was arrested, jailed, and convicted in a federal court.