238 a short history of the united states
Harbor were so intense that Japanese-American citizens living prin-
cipally along the West Coast suffered the same fate that befell
Native Americans over a century before. They were removed. Con-
gressmen from California, Oregon, and Washington joined other
public officials, newspapers, and various pressure groups and com-
plained that the West Coast of the United States was vulnerable to
invasion and demanded that Japanese aliens and Japanese-American
citizens be expelled from their homes and relocated to the interior.
Roosevelt responded by issuing an executive order in February and
March 1942 , authorizing the secretary of war to designate certain
areas as restricted military zones from which “unacceptable” indi-
viduals would be excluded. More than 100 , 000 people of Japanese
descent, including Japanese-American citizens, living along the
West Coast and in Arizona were removed to what can only be de-
scribed as concentration camps in the interior. This disgraceful ac-
tion caused these people to lose homes, businesses, farms, and most
of their possessions. On March 21 , 1942 , Congress approved the ac-
tion. Without debate, both houses unanimously passed a measure
making it a crime to violate military orders in restricted military
zones, thus becoming an accomplice to this massive violation of the
basic rights of American citizens. The Supreme Court also became a
party to this move. It upheld the action as a means of ensuring na-
tional security, the same argument Andrew Jackson had given for
the removal of American Indians.
Nonetheless, thousands of Japanese-American men in these camps
volunteered to fight against Japan and Germany. Taking no chances,
the administration sent most of them to Europe. However, when they
returned home as decorated war veterans many of them could not re-
cover their lost property or jobs.
Mexican-Americans also suffered, especially those in California.
They were victims of urban violence, culminating in the so-called “Zoot-
suit war” of 1943 in Los Angeles, when mobs of servicemen roamed and
assaulted and robbed at will young Mexican-Americans. War time can
bring out not only the best but frequently the worst characteristics of any
society, and in both areas the United States was no exception.
There was a sense throughout America that the war was justifi ed and
right. Fighting the evil of Nazism, Fascism, and militarism in the world