Declaration Of Independence Japanese Internment

In the United States the people pride themselves on the actions and words of the Founding Fathers such as Jefferson, Washington, and Hamilton. One of the documents that the country looks to for guidance is the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was written as a list of grievances towards the British, basically telling them why the colonies were separating and becoming independent from the Empire. One of the most memorable and quoted passages from this document is the phrase “... all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence). Many people used this phrase when arguing for the abolition of slavery …show more content…
Although many did not support the actions of the Japanese government, they were seen as enemies of the state by many in the public who suffered from a myopic view of the situation abroad at this time. The fear of treason and attack led the U.S. government down the path of internment camps. Within a very short time, many Japanese-Americans were moved in mass from the West Coast to internment camps around the country. One of these camps was called ‘Camp Harmony’ and a prisoner of this camp named Ben Yorita writes about what the experience at the camp did to his family and many others here: “From Camp Harmony on, the family structure was broken down. Children ran everywhere they wanted to in the camp, and parents lost their authority…” (America Firsthand pg. 225). Yorita’s experience was symbolic of many in his community, and the family structure break down that he highlights show the more subtle, longer lasting consequences of these internment camps. Many of the accounts talk about the horrible living, eating and bathing conditions of day to day life in these camps. Yorita’s story, however, tells another kind of tale. It shows how the government's mistreatment and ranking of different types of people in the country damaged the lives of these people not only in the camps but long after they had …show more content…
The following quotation from Yorita shows the kind of economic shift that many victims of these camps had to go through: “I had a savings account that was left intact, but people who had their money in the Japanese bank in Seattle had their assets frozen from Pearl Harbor until the late 1960’s” (America Firsthand pg. 224). It made the families liquidate the little assets they had, and several years later end up scattered across the country looking for jobs in a new and different market. Especially for families like the ones Yorita describes, the economic and social impact was much more than any abuses suffered in the camps. This situation hurt not only the Japanese community, but overall the U.S. economy in the years following the war. This is not the only time that the government has ended up shooting itself in the foot with its racist