| Mar
26, 1790 |
The
U.S. Congress, in the Act of March 26, 1790, states that
"any alien, being a free white person who shall have
resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of
the United States for a term of two years, may be admitted
to become a citizen thereof." |
| 1873 |
The
phrase "persons of African nativity or descent"
is added to the language of the act of 1790, which is used
to deny citizenship to Japanese and other Asian immigrants
until 1952. |
| May
6, 1882 |
Congress
passes the Chinese Exclusion Act, ending Chinese immigration
for the next 70 years. |
| 1885 |
Japanese
laborers begin arriving in Hawaii, recruited by plantation
owners to work the sugarcane fields. |
| Sep
2, 1885 |
Anti-Chinese
rioters set fire to Chinatown in Rock Springs, Wyoming,
killing 28 Chinese miners and wounding 15, as a result of
a swelling anti-Chinese reaction over cheap labor and strikebreakers.
All 16 white suspects were acquitted. |
| 1891 |
Japanese
immigrants arrive on the mainland U.S. for work primarily
as agricultural laborers. |
| Jun
27, 1894 |
A U.S.
district court rules that Japanese immigrants cannot become
citizens because they are not "a free white person"
as the Naturalization Act of 1790 requires. |
| May
7, 1900 |
The
first large-scale anti-Japanese protest in California is
held, organized by various labor groups. |
| 1902 |
The
Pacific Northwest Japanese Community is active and vibrant,
and a beginning for many groups like the Japanese Language
School, Seattle Buddhist Temple, Japanese Baptist Church,
Blaine Methodist Church, and the Hokubei Jiji among others.
Seattle has one of the largest Nikkei communities in the
United States. |
| Feb
23, 1905 |
"The
Japanese Invasion: The Problem of the Hour," reads
the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, helping to
escalate racism towards the Japanese in the Bay Area. |
| May
14, 1905 |
The
Asiatic Exclusion League is formed in San Francisco. In
attendance are labor leaders and European immigrants, marking
the first organized effort of the anti-Japanese movement. |
| Oct
11, 1906 |
The
San Francisco Board of Education passes a resolution to
segregate children of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ancestry
from the majority population. |
| 1908 |
Japan
and the U.S. agree (Gentleman's Agreement) to halt the immigration
of Japanese laborers to the United States.
Japanese women are allowed to immigrate if they are wives
of U.S. residents. |
| 1913 |
California
passes the Alien Land Law, forbidding "all aliens ineligible
for citizenship" from owning land. This later grew
to include prohibition on leasing land as well, and 12 other
states adopted similar laws. |
| Nov
1920 |
A new,
more stringent 1920 Alien Land Law passes in California,
intending to close loopholes found in the 1913 Alien Land
Law. |
| 1920 |
Japanese
American farmers produce $67 million dollars worth of crops,
more than ten percent of California's total crop value.
There are 111,000 Japanese Americans in the U.S., 82,000
are immigrants and 29,000 were born in the U.S. |
| Jul
19, 1921 |
White
vigilantes deport 58 Japanese laborers from Turlock, California,
driving them out by truck at gunpoint. Other incidents occur
across California and in Oregon and Arizona. |
| Nov
13, 1922 |
The
United States Supreme Court rules on the Ozawa case, reaffirming
the ban on Japanese immigrants from becoming naturalized
U.S. citizens. This ban would last until 1952. |
| 1924 |
Congress
passes the Immigration Act of 1924 effectively ending all
Japanese immigration to the U.S. |
| Nov
1941 |
A U.S.
Intelligence report known as the "Munson Report"
commissioned by President Roosevelt concludes that the great
majority of Japanese Americans are loyal to the U.S. and
do not pose a threat to national security in the event of
war with Japan. |
| Dec
7, 1941 |
Japan
bombs U.S. ships and planes at the Pearl Harbor military
bases in Hawaii. Over 3,500 servicemen are wounded or killed.
Martial law is declared in Hawaii. The
FBI begins arresting Japanese immigrants identified as
community leaders: priests, Japanese language teachers,
newspaper publishers, and heads of organizations. Within
48 hours, 1,291 are arrested. Most of these men would
be incarcerated for the duration of the war, separated
from their families. |
| Dec
8, 1941 |
A declaration
of war against Japan is brought by the President and passed
by Congress. |
| Dec
- Jan 1941 |
The
FBI searches thousands of Japanese American homes on the
West Coast for contraband. Short wave radios, cameras, heirloom
swords, and explosives used for clearing stumps in agriculture
are among the items confiscated. |
| Dec
11, 1941 |
The
Western Defense Command is established with Lt. Gen. John
L. DeWitt as the commander. |
| Dec15,
1941 |
Without
any evidence of sabotage, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
announces to the press, "I think the most effective
Fifth Column work of the entire war was done in Hawaii..." |
| Feb
19, 1942 |
President
Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 authorizing military
authorities to exclude civilians from any area without trial
or hearing. The order did not specify Japanese Americans--but
they were the only group to be imprisoned as a result of
it. |
| Feb
25, 1942 |
The
U.S. Navy orders all Japanese Americans living on Terminal
Island in the Port of Los Angeles--some 500 families--to
leave within 48 hours. As the first group to be removed
en masse, they incur especially heavy losses. |
| Mar
1942 |
General
DeWitt, commander of the Western Defense Command issues
Public Proclamation No. 1 and begins the process of removing
all persons of Japanese ancestry--U.S. citizens and aliens
alike--living in the western halves of Washington State,
California, Oregon, and parts of Arizona. A curfew goes
into effect in these areas--all those of Japanese ancestry
must remain at home from 8 pm to 6 am. |
| Mar
1942 |
The
Wartime Civil Control Administration opens 16 "Assembly
Centers" to d etain approximately 92,000 men, women,
and children until the permanent incarceration camps are
completed. |
| Mar
5, 1942 |
The
State of California "releases" 34 Japanese American
civil servants from their jobs. |
| Mar
18, 1942 |
The
President signs Executive Order 9102 establishing the War
Relocation Authority with Milton Eisenhower as director. |
| Mar
24, 1942 |
The
first Civilian Exclusion Order is issued by the Army for
Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington. Forty-five families
are given one week to prepare, and by the end of October,
1942, 108 exclusion orders would be issued. |
| Ma
27, 1942 |
"Voluntary
evacuation" ends as the Army prohibits the changing
of residence for all Japanese Americans in the western halves
of Washington State, California and Oregon. |
| Mar
28, 1942 |
Minoru
Yasui walks into a Portland police station to surrender
himself for arrest in order to test the curfew regulations
in court. |
| May
1942 |
The
incarcerees begin transfer to permanent WRA incarceration
facilities or "camps." They total ten: Manzanar,
Poston, Gila River, Topaz, Granada, Heart Mountain, Minidoka,
Tule Lake, Jerome, and Rohwer. |
| May
16, 1942 |
University
of Washington student Gordon Hirabayashi turns himself into
the authorities with a four-page statement explaining why
he would not submit to the imprisonment on Constitutional
grounds. |
| Jun
3-6, 1942 |
The
Allies victory at the Battle of Midway is significant, thus
turning the advantage in the war to the United States. |
| Jul
12, 1942 |
Mitsuye
Endo's attorney files a writ of habeas corpus on her behalf.
The case wouldn't be decided upon until December 1944, but
its ruling would signal the end of the incarceration camps. |
| Jul
27, 1942 |
Two
men are shot to death by a camp guard while allegedly trying
to escape from the Lordsburg, New Mexico internment camp.
Both men had been too ill to walk from the train station
to the camp gate prior to being shot. |
| Jan
1943 |
The
War Department announces the formation of a segregated unit
of Japanese American soldiers, and calls for volunteers
in Hawaii (where Japanese Americans were not incarcerated)
and from among the men incarcerated in the camps. |
| Mar
1943 |
10,000
Japanese American men volunteer for the armed services from
Hawaii. 1,200 volunteer out of the camps. |
| June
1943 |
The
U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the
curfew order in Hirabayashi v. U.S. and Yasui v. U.S. |
| Sep
1943 |
From
the results of the "loyalty questionnaire," "loyal"
incarcerees from Tule Lake begin to depart to other camps
and "disloyal" incarcerees from other camps begin
to arrive at Tule Lake. |
|
Jan 1944 |
The
War Department imposes the draft on Japanese American men,
including those incarcerated in the camps. The vast majority
comply, a few hundred resist and are brought up on federal
charges. Most of the resisters are imprisoned in a federal
penitentiary. |
| May
10, 1944 |
63
Heart Mountain draft resisters are indicted by a federal
grand jury. On June 26th the 63 are found guilty and sentenced
to jail terms. The 63 were pardoned on December 24, 1947
by President Truman. |
| Jan
2, 1945 |
The
War Department announces that the exclusion orders are rescinded
after the Supreme Court rules in the Endo case that "loyal"
citizens could not be lawfully detained. |
| May
7, 1945 |
Germany
surrenders, ending the war in Europe. |
| Aug
6, 1945 |
The
U.S. drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later,
a second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki. Japan surrenders on
August 14th. |
|
Aug 1945 |
Some
44,000 people still remain in the camps. Many have nowhere
to go having lost their homes and jobs. Many are afraid
of anti-Japanese hostility and refuse to leave. |
| Mar
20, 1946 |
Tule
Lake "Segregation Center" closes. This is the
last War Relocation Authority facility to close. |
| Jul
15, 1946 |
"You
not only fought the enemy but you fought prejudice... and
you won." These were the words of President Truman
on the White House lawn as he received the 442nd Regimental
Combat Team. |
| 1948 |
President
Truman signs the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act.
Approximately $38 million was paid from this act, only a
small fraction of the estimated loss in income and property. |
| Jun
1952 |
The
Senate and House override President Truman's veto and vote
the Walter-McCarren Act into law. This bill grants Japan
a token immigration quota and allows Japanese immigrants
to become naturalized U.S. citizens. |
| 1980 |
The
Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
is established calling for a congressional committee to
investigate the detention program and the constitutionality
of Executive Order 9066. |
| 1981 |
The
Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
holds hearings in 10 locations. They hear testimony from
over 750 witnesses. |
| 1983 |
The
Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
issues its report, Personal Justice Denied, on February
24th and its Recommendations, on June 16th. The Recommendations
call for a presidential apology and a $20,000 payment to
each of the approximately 60,000 surviving persons excluded
from their places of residence pursuant to Executive Order
9066. |
| 1983
- 1988 |
The
wartime convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui,
and Fred Korematsu (the three men who protested the curfew
and/or incarceration orders) are vacated ("nullified")
on the basis of newly discovered evidence that the U.S.
military lied to the Supreme Court in the original proceedings. |
| Aug
10, 1988 |
President
Ronald Reagan signs HR 442 into law. It acknowledges that
the incarceration of more than 110,000 individuals of Japanese
descent was unjust, and offers an apology and redress payments
of $20,000 to each person incarcerated. |
| Oct
9, 1990 |
In
a Washington D.C. ceremony, the first nine redress payments
are made. |
| Sep
1, 2002 |
Hokubei
Hochi, aka North Amreican Post Celebrates 100 Years. |
