Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation: Main Idea
Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation: Main Idea
Get in the Zone...or out of It
In Executive Order 9066, FDR hands over authority to the secretary of war and all of his war people to plot out specific zones of the country and label them "military areas." What kinds of specific zones, you ask? Oh, nothing much…just essentially the entire West Coast of the continental United States.
Within these zones, the secretary of war is allowed to make the rules, particularly when it comes to who can stay and who has to scram. FDR includes a certain amount of responsibility with this power by instructing Mr. Secretary and company to provide basic amenities for the people they kick out of their special zones.
He also tells the rest of his federal government that they're supposed to aid the secretary of war in carrying out the creation and maintenance of the military areas. E.O. 9066 is sort of like a parent giving one of his children a goldfish, telling him to take care of said fish, and then telling the other goldfish-less children to help him do it, too.
Well, we all know what happens to that goldfish in the end.
Questions
- Aside from racism, what might have been some other motivating factors for the support of E.O. 9066? What kinds of emotions might inspire the actions taken under the order?
- Pretend you were someone working in the federal government with very close friends who were Japanese American. How might you have responded to E.O. 9066?
- How does "duty" come into play here? Think about duty in regards to government agencies, the military, and private citizens.
- In retrospect, E.O. 9066 is generally seen as unconstitutional. Does this mean that the Constitution is flexible during wartime? If so, is this flexibility justifiable or not?
Chew On This
People act in extreme ways under extreme conditions. Anti-Japanese racism was an unfortunate product of the time, but war hysteria during World War II was motivated by very real fear, and the president responded in the manner he saw fit for the circumstances.
The Constitution should never be manipulated in the name of injustice. Wartime or not, E.O. 9066 was a corruption of the law based more on personal agendas than a concern for national security.
Quotes
Quote #1
Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas (4)
Before reading the document, it might not be clear what this means, but after you give it a thorough skim, it makes a lot more sense. Less of a sentence and more of a label, this line is pretty straightforward. No, it's not very quotable, but in terms of the "main idea," well, this is it. FDR is telling the secretary of war he can create some military areas if he wants. Hooray for him.
Quote #2
I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas [...]. (6)
Again, this is FDR telling the secretary of war to get to it and exclude some people. Even though it's spelled out in title lines, FDR invokes official language here to make it the real deal.
Quote #3
The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary [...]. (7)
If your spidey sense is tingling, then you're probably thinking what FDR was thinking...with great power comes great responsibility. Or: you can't have it if you're not going to take care of it.
Quote #4
I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area [...]. (9)
What do you suppose "enforce compliance" means? (Ahem...hop on down to our "Key Figures" section and keep an eye out for Hirabayashi v. United States, Yasui v. United States, and Korematsu v. United States.)