JAPANESE-AMERICANS TO BE MOVED TO INTERNMENT CAMPS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9066 authorizing the removal of all people from military areas "as deemed necessary." The order stated...
"Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and...sabotage to national defense...I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War to designate...military areas...from which any or all persons may be excluded."
FDR was advised the areas in question included all the west coast of the United States. It is estimated that 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were moved to internment camps, 70,000 of which were American citizens.
In the case of Korematsu vs. United States, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the order to relocate Americans of Japanese descent was constitutional. The six majority votes were from FDR-appointed justices.
Hugo Black*, who wrote the majority opinion, argued that the necessity of protecting the nation against espionage outweighed the individual rights of Fred Korematsu and those of all Americans of Japanese descent.
Those relocated by the order would not be allowed to return to their homes until December 17, 1944. President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 which gave each survivor of the internment camps $20,000 tax free along with the government's apology.
*Hugo Lafayette Black (1886-1971) was born in Ashland, AL & graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1906. HLB served in WWI and practiced law in Birmingham. He served in the U.S. Sentate 1927-1937 & on the Supreme Court for 34 years.
Japanese-American Grocer
Oakland, California
March 1942
Photo by Dorothea Lange
Library of Congress
Prints & Photographs Division
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9066 authorizing the removal of all people from military areas "as deemed necessary." The order stated...
"Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and...sabotage to national defense...I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War to designate...military areas...from which any or all persons may be excluded."
FDR was advised the areas in question included all the west coast of the United States. It is estimated that 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were moved to internment camps, 70,000 of which were American citizens.
In the case of Korematsu vs. United States, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the order to relocate Americans of Japanese descent was constitutional. The six majority votes were from FDR-appointed justices.
Hugo Black*, who wrote the majority opinion, argued that the necessity of protecting the nation against espionage outweighed the individual rights of Fred Korematsu and those of all Americans of Japanese descent.
Those relocated by the order would not be allowed to return to their homes until December 17, 1944. President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 which gave each survivor of the internment camps $20,000 tax free along with the government's apology.
*Hugo Lafayette Black (1886-1971) was born in Ashland, AL & graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1906. HLB served in WWI and practiced law in Birmingham. He served in the U.S. Sentate 1927-1937 & on the Supreme Court for 34 years.
Japanese-American Grocer
Oakland, California
March 1942
Photo by Dorothea Lange
Library of Congress
Prints & Photographs Division
