World War II was one of the most horrific episodes in the history of modern civilization. It changed the lives of millions of people. One of the most profoundly affected groups were the Japanese-Americans, otherwise known as the Nisei and the Issei. Once the United States and Japan declared war on each other, Americans decided that they had to control the Nisei and the Issei (Japanese living in the United States who were not full citizens of the United States), or "The Yellow Peril."(Fremon 13). In the United States resentment grew strong about the Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast. American's felt it necessary to remove the Japanese threat. It was decided to relocate the Japanese-Americans from the West Coast in a process that has become known as Japanese Internment. Camps located in the mid-west were constructed in order to house the relocated Japanese Americans. Japanese Americans living on the West Coast were illegally removed from their homes and detained because of the notion that they were a military threat to the United States.

One must ascertain the mindset of the American public prior to World War II, to comprehend why America would take the drastic measure of

The rationale the United States government used to justify the signing of Executive order 9066 was that the Japanese-Americans posed a military threat by living on the West Coast (Daniels 46). It is apparent that the overwhelming majority of Japanese-Americans were not dangerous. The following quote shows the Nisei and the Issei's efforts in being loyal Americans:

As a whole, the living conditions were meager and inadequate. The living quarters had no bathrooms, which must have been an incredible nuisance to the inhabitants. To have to walk 200 feet to use the toilet is almost unimaginable in a country as rich as ours. The Issei and Nisei were treated as if they were common criminals. The conditions described in the camps mimic living conditions found in many prisons in the United States.

Most court cases involving Japanese Internment were not successful, but there were a few exceptions. One of the most famous cases that fits this description is the Endo Case. Endo was a California resident who lost her job because she had Japanese ancestry. She was ordered to relocate to the Tule Lake camp which she did without resistance. Endo contacted the JACL and through this organization her case was taken to the Supreme Court. Endo was viewed as the perfect example as to why Japanese Internment was wrong (Fremon 94). She was a loyal citizen who had never been in trouble with the law. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Endo. The court ruled that "Loyal citizens could not be imprisoned indefinitely."(Fremon 95). The implication of this ruling showed that Japanese Internment was not right if it facilitated the imprisonment of loyal American citizens.

Most Japanese-Americans obeyed the laws regarding Japanese Internment, however there were a few that challenged the laws in court. One of the most famous cases involved a man named Gordon Hirabayashi. Hirabayashi was a student at the University of Washington. He did not want to have to act differently than all his other classmates. So one day, he challenged the curfew laws that had been imposed on the Japanese- Americans. He "decided to behave like an American, like the rest of my dorm'."(Fremon 91). Hirabayashi was arrested and placed in jail. When his case came to trial in the lower courts he was found guilty. On appeal his case went to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court found Hirabayashi guilty as well. Hirabayashi had this to say:

The findings of the Tolan Committee sealed the reality of armed camps in the United States. The Japanese-Americans, who were to be removed from their homes, would now have to be placed in concentration camps because otherwise no state would allow them in. States were so against having Japanese-American residents that it prompted the Governor of Wyoming to say this: "If you bring Japanese into my state, I promise you they will be hanging from every tree."(Fremon 35).

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, pre-war hatred of the Japanese was a factor that helped enable the United States to make the controversial decision to remove the Japanese Americans from the West Coast of the United States. There was much debate among members of government before Executive order 9066 was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roo

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Approximate Word count = 2213
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)