2. Attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7th, 1941)
• Immediate impact: U.S.
declares war on Japan
entering WWII.
• 2,400 dead / 1,178 wounded
• 300 aircrafts
damaged/destroyed
• 19 battleship/destroyers/
cruisers –
damaged/destroyed
3. Executive Order 9066
• When: February 19, 1942
• Japanese-Americans had
to evacuate [leave] the
West Coast.
• Relocation of
approximately 120,000
people to internment
camps.
4.
5.
6.
7. Korematsu v. United States (1944)
• Fred Korematsu: American-born citizen of Japanese
descent refused to leave his home in California
(violating Executive Order 9066).
• Was convicted, he appealed, and in 1944 his case
reached the Supreme Court.
– The Court agreed with gov’t
– The need to protect the country was a greater priority
than the individual rights of the Japanese and Japanese
Americans.
8. War & Civil Liberties
• Espionage Act –
1917
-Made it illegal to
interfere with
military operations,
including the draft.
- $10,000 fine/20
years
• Sedition Act
(1918-1921)
-Made it illegal to
criticize the
government (anti-
war & unpatriotic
sentiments).
9. Atomic Bomb (August 1945)
• U.S. dropped atomic bomb on
Hiroshima
-wiped out 90% of the city
-immediately killed 80,000
people
-tens of thousands more would
later die of radiation
exposure.
• U.S. dropped atomic bomb
Nagasaki
-Approximately 40,000 dead
Notas do Editor
President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, this authorized the military to relocate civilians of Japanese descent from any area without trial or hearing. As a result, relocation camps are established, and Japanese Americans are forced to leave their homes and jobs to live in the relocation camp until the federal government released them or closed the camps.
Intern - to restrict to or confine within prescribed limits, as prisoners of war, enemy aliens, or combat troops who take refuge in a neutral country.
In Korematsu's case, the Court accepted the U.S. military's argument that the loyalties of some Japanese Americans resided not with the United States but with their ancestral country, and that because separating "the disloyal from the loyal" was a logistical impossibility, the internment order had to apply to all Japanese Americans within the restricted area.
Charles Schenck, General Secretary of the Socialist Party, opposed the war.
Mailed out 15,000 leaflets urging opposition to the draft.
Was arrested and convicted for violations of the Espionage Act.
The Court’s “clear and present danger” ruling allows the restrictions of individual rights in the interest of national security.
