HIST G175: Internment of American Japanese during World War II – Homework Solution

Internment of American Japanese during World War II

Due: May 28^th by 11:59pm – Submitted to TurnItIn

Context: On December 7, 1941, Japanese plans launched a surprise attack and bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt called December 7 a “day that will live in infamy,” and asked Congress to declare war on Japan—effectively signaling the United States’ entry into World War II. For American Japanese, the attack fueled long-standing anti-Asian prejudice.

On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which ordered the relocation of all persons of Japanese descent from the West Coast into internment camps. More than 110,000 men, women, and children were removed from their homes and confined in the camps. The Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1944 court case, Korematsu v. United States, upheld the legality of the internment policy. In 2018, however, the decision was declared as “gravely wrong” and overturned.

Internment of American Japanese during World War II

Assignment:

For your final paper, you must draw on specific examples from Richard Reeve’s book to argue why and how the internment of American Japanese during World War II was wrong and detrimental.

• There are arguably many reasons as why the decisions and act of interning hundreds of thousands of American Japanese was wrong and detrimental. You are to take a stance and argue what you believe are the main reasons why.
• Approaches you can use (but are not limited to) are specific information/lack of information leading up to the decision, the prejudice and hostile climate that it helped foster/promote against Asians, conditions in the camps, violation of civil liberties/rights, loss of property and businesses, and/or the treatment of them in the military.

You are to develop an argument (thesis) and support your interpretation using Infamy and historical evidence. There is no single “right” answer for this essay. I am asking you to develop an argument or point of view and to support your interpretation using the book and relevant historical facts from class material. You are to use your critical thinking skills and weigh historical evidence to reach your conclusions.

Internment of American Japanese during World War II

Requirements:

You must select at least 3 quotes from the book to use as examples and evidence to support your argument.

• You are welcome to do your own outside research to find additional sources; however, they must be peer-reviewed or scholarly journals/articles.
• You are required to cite all sources that you use.

***This is NOT a book review/summary. Do not give me a play by play about what happened in the book.

Mechanics

Length: 4-5 pages

• In order for it to count as a page, it must be full with no unnecessary spacing. Meaning 3 ½ pages does not count as 4 full pages. There should be no additional spaces between your header, title, and introduction paragraph.
• Your works cited page do not count towards final page count.
• Any images/graphs/figures added do not count towards final page count.

Remember, reaching the page requirement does not essentially mean you will receive a passing grade. It is the quality of your paper (content, argument, analysis) that will determine the majority of the points.

Internment of American Japanese during World War II

Formatting: MLA format and citations.

• Size 12 Font
• Times New Roman Font
• Double-spaced
• 1-inch Margin
• Last Name and Page Number on Upper Right-Hand Corner
• Heading on Top Left: Name, Professor, Class, Date
• Title
• Works Cited Page

Chicago style will also be accepted, and will be graded with the same expectations. Choose only one format and stay consistent.

Do not plagiarize. Plagiarism is stealing the words, ideas, or thoughts of another person and treating them as your own. Changing a word or two in a sentence is not enough to avoid plagiarism. When in doubt, cite the source. If you plagiarize, you will be reported. No exceptions.

Internment of American Japanese during World War II

Things to consider:

• Do not use Wikipedia as a source!
• Write history in past tense.
• Write in third person (he/him/she/her/it/they/them). Avoid using first person or second person.
• Use the active voice and avoid passive as much as possible.
  • (“Jody attacked the enemy,” rather than, “The enemy was attacked by Jody.”)
• Read your essay before you submit it!

Quotations:

• Avoid using block quotes. (Quotes that take more than 4 lines)
• Do not use quotes as replacements for your own analysis.
• Do not stick quotes in your paragraph without an introduction or analysis after.

Examples of how to introduce quotes:

• President Hoover confessed that “the necessity for mass evacuation is based primarily upon public and political pressure rather than on factual data” (Reeves 40).
• According to Reeves, “Few of the American Japanese knew where they were going to be shipped to and, obviously, no one knew when and whether they would be able to return to their to their old lives” (77).
• In his article, historian John Smith states that “insert quote here” (42).

Internment of American Japanese during World War II

Choose your words carefully.

• For example, the Holocaust was not “unfortunate.” Spilled coffee is unfortunate. The

Holocaust was horrendous, devasting, and deeply disturbing.

• Words like “always” and “never” are very definitive statement and is difficult to prove when writing about history. It is best to avoid them.
• Avoid cliché phrases such as: “Since the beginning of history/time.”

For help with citations:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html

Book Citation:

Reeves, Richard. Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World

War II. New York: Picador, 2016.