Project Questions

1. Several of the sources indicate overwhelming loyalty and little likelihood of internal sabotage, yet the United States chose not only to forcibly relocate and confine the Japanese Americans but also to uphold the decision in the Supreme Court. What are the most common reasons given in these sources for the need for internment?
2. Many of the documents cite the wartime situation as justification for extreme measures against the Japanese Americans. Do wars or threats to U.S. national security justify the loss of individual civil liberties? Explain your answer using sources from this unit.
3. Central Question: How did the United States attempt to balance civil rights and wartime national security in the decision to intern Japanese Americans in 1942?