Japanese Internment
127,OOO United States citizens were imprisoned for being ancestors of the Japanese. Now this may not make much sense to us; however the U.S. government saw different. They believed that they might stay faithful to their descents and fight against the U.S. instead of with us. Even veterans of World War I were imprisoned. In 1942 President Roosevelt signed the agreement to relocate Japanese- Americans to camps. Because of this, many families sold their homes, businesses, and belongings. There were 10 camps in the western states. These camps were meant to be self- sufficient. They wanted the tenants to farm, go to school, and also work. The adults could work for $5 a day. The children were required to still attend school as well. The families were allowed to dine together however the food was never good. The housing was poor as well. The housing was either too cold or too hot. The tenants knew not to run because there were round the clock watch guards that would shoot anyone who tried. Eventually the government order was unauthorized. However, many of the people found it hard to return to their regular lives. The U.S. government wanted to apologize for their actions, so in 1988 they granted $20,000 to every tenant of the camps that was still living. (17)