1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: What's up everyone. Welcome to this Day in History class, 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: where we bring you a new tidbit from history every day. 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: Today is February nineteenth, nineteen. The day was February nineteenth, 4 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: nineteen two. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor a couple 5 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: of months earlier, the citizens and government of the United 6 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: States became frantic. They were increasingly distrustful of the many 7 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: Japanese immigrants in Japanese citizens in the country, believing they 8 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: couldn't be trusted to remain loyal to the US over Japan. 9 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: In many people's minds, people of Japanese descent were a 10 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: threat to national safety and security. As a result, President 11 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Executive Order nineties sixty six, which authorized 12 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: the Secretary of War and military commanders to set up 13 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: military zones that anybody could be evacuated from. The executive 14 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: order was framed as a measure necessary to protect national 15 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: security during wartime since the country was now vulnerable to attack, 16 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: But what the order actually did was take advantage of 17 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: the public's escalating fears of Japanese Americans involvement in the 18 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: war and use it to put them in concentration camps. 19 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: The passing of Executive Order nine sixty six was largely 20 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: precipitated by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but resentment of 21 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: foreign nationals in Japanese immigrants in particular had already been 22 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: growing steadily by the time FDR signed the Executive Order. 23 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: Before the nineteenth century, Japan didn't want much to do 24 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: with Europe or its colonies. But by the eighteen hundreds, 25 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: Japan had begun trading with the United States, and Japanese 26 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: people were immigrating to the US and other places as 27 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: temporary laborers. At the same time, the US was barring 28 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: other Asian nationals from entering the country. The Chinese Exclusion Act, 29 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: passed in eighteen eighty two, banned immigration from China to 30 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: the US and prohibited all Chinese people in the US 31 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: from becoming citizens. The law partly had to do with 32 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: the high unemployment and low wages in the US, which 33 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: were blamed on Chinese laborers, but it also had to 34 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: do with prejudices white Americans had against Chinese people. All 35 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: of this is to say that there was a precedent 36 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: for restricting immigration from Asia by the time the US 37 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: government began placing limits on the number of Japanese people 38 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: that could come to the US, and in nineteen twenty four, 39 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: the government passed the Johnson read Act, which set immigration 40 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: quotas and effectively cut off the stream of Japanese people 41 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: immigrating to the States. People who moved to the US 42 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: from Japan couldn't become citizens, although children born to Japanese 43 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: people in US received birthright citizenship. Even so, most of 44 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: the Japanese people who moved to the US settled on 45 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: the West Coast or in Hawaii, building up their own 46 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: communities with their own schools and businesses, and a lot 47 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,679 Speaker 1: of these communities were doing well. But when the Japanese 48 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: bombed Pearl Harbor in nineteen forty one in the hopes 49 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: of destroying US military forces in the Pacific, the US 50 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: was compelled to enter World War Two after years of 51 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: trying to avoid being hands on in the conflict. At first, 52 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: there were appeals for people to remain calm, but soon enough, 53 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: the government began targeting thousands of foreign nationals who it 54 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: believed to be a threat. Many of the people who 55 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: the government considered enemy aliens had done nothing that would 56 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: legitimately earn them the label of enemy, regardless they were 57 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: still sent to camps, jails, and prisons under suspicions of espionage, sabotage, 58 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 1: and any other activities that could aid Japan and the war. 59 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: And as more people were locked up, as the media 60 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: amplified false reports of Japanese threats, and as actual Japanese 61 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: military threats proposed, the public grew more fearful of Japanese people. 62 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: The public and the government began supporting the idea of 63 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: the mass incarceration of people of Japanese descent. In the beginning, 64 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: the Justice Department was against mass removal and incarceration since 65 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: it was unconstitutional. Many government officials opposed the measure, but 66 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: the government went forward with the plan anyway. Strategist Carl 67 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: Bindettson proposed scurr that tiny problem of unconstitutionality by giving 68 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: the Secretary of War the authority to set up military 69 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: zones and remove people from those zones at will, and 70 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: Executive Order nineties sixty six authorizing the Secretary of War 71 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: to prescribe military areas was passed on February nineteenth, nineteen 72 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: forty two. The order also said that the government would 73 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: provide for residents of any such area who are excluded 74 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: therefrom such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as maybe necessary. 75 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: Since the Act didn't have enforcement provisions, the government also 76 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:48,239 Speaker 1: passed Public Law five oh three, which penalized people for entering, leaving, 77 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: or committing any act in an exclusion zone. And on 78 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:58,119 Speaker 1: top of that, FDR also signed Executive Order two which 79 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: created the War Relocation Authority, the body in charge of 80 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: creating and overseeing the interment camps. The whole West Coast 81 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: was an exclusion zone, which meant that a bunch of 82 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: Japanese people were required to leave their homes, but many 83 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: couldn't afford to leave or faced resistance when they did so, 84 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: they ended up being forced to leave. They were sent 85 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: to temporary locations like horse stables and race tracks, then 86 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: to concentration camps and remote areas where they had to work. 87 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: Everyone of Japanese ancestry in the zones had to go, 88 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 1: including people who were sick in hospitals and children and 89 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: orphanages who just looked Japanese. The people who were incarcerated 90 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: in concentration camps regarded and not allowed to leave. But 91 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: even though a lot of people didn't like having the 92 00:06:54,839 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: camps in their area, most people still supported removal, and 93 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: all this was being done under the guise of safety 94 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: and the best interest of the country. Japanese people needed 95 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: to be evacuated and moved to more secure locations for 96 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: their own sake and the nation's sake. After the war ended, 97 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: the concentration camps started closing, with the last one shutting 98 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: down in nineteen forty six. In nineteen forty eight, people 99 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: who had been incarcerated were granted thirty eight million dollars 100 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: in restitution, and in nineteen fifty two Japanese immigrants were 101 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: able to become US citizens. The US government did admit 102 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: to its mistakes and apologize in the nineteen eighties, but 103 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: Japanese people's lives had already been hugely affected. I'm Eves 104 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know a little more about 105 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 106 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: learn more about Executive Order nineties sixty six in Japanese 107 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: American interment, listen to the two part episode of Stuff 108 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: you missed in History class called Executive Order nineties sixty 109 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: six and Japanese Interments. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, 110 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: and Facebook at T D I H C. Podcast. Thank 111 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: you so much for listening, and I hope to see 112 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: you again tomorrow for more tidbits of history.