Japanese Internment Timeline

  • 1790: Naturalization Act

    Stated that only free white people could become a citizen, excluding natives, blacks, and Chinese.
  • Worcester v. Georgia 31 U.S. 515

    People can't live within the limits of Cherokee land.
  • Land Taken

    Federal government drives Creeks and Cherokee off of their land.
  • Apache-American War over

  • 1853: Perry Sails In.

    Commander Matthew Perry sails into the harbor of Tokyo, with 4 warships, with intent to force Japan into trade relations in the U.S. For the past 350, the Japanese were forced to stay in Japan, which was the first time the US and Japanese citizens came together. In the decades following this act, the Japanese started to migrate into the U.S.
  • 1882: Exclusion Act

    Rising anti-Chinese sentiment caused by the increasing number of Asian immigrants occupying U.S. citizen's jobs led to the Exclusion act.
  • Geronimo Surrender

    Surrenders and is imprisoned in Fort Still.
  • Dawes Act

    It allows the government to divide the land for the Indians and the rest can be sold.
  • 1905: San Fransisco School Segregation

    The San Fransisco School board voted in favor of Chinese and Japanese segregation in Californa schools.
  • 1907: Gentlemen's Agreement

    In this agreement, the United States stated that it would not make an immigration policy that excluded all Japanese immigrants, as long as Japan agreed to issue fewer passports for day labor in the U.S. However, this was only short-term to appease the racist ante-Asiatic Leagues.
  • 1911: Japanese population in the U.S.

    By 1911, almost half a million Japanese people lived in the United States. Most of these immigrants had awful working conditions and low wages.
  • 1913: Alien Land Law

    This act prohibited Japanese citizens from owning property.
  • 1924: National Origins act

    The act lowered the immigration quota from each European country and limited immigration by eastern and southern Europeans. This limited immigration to 2% in the United States.
  • 1941: Pearl harbor bombed

    Japan launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States.
  • Creating the code

    Philip Johnston, a non-native American wants to create a code using Navajo language.
  • 1942: Executive Order 9066

    President Franklin Roosevelt issued executive order 9066 that authorized the removal of all threats to national security.
  • 1944: Incarceration Ruling

    The court ruling for incarceration for the Japanese-Americans was unclear and indecisive.
  • Navajo code declassified

  • Redress Movement

    The United States apologizes and looks to give back civil rights.
  • Civil Liberties act

    This act granted 20 thousand dollars to the Japanese people who were incarcerated. Some took this well, but some others felt that this was not enough to repay for what they had to go through.