What policy involved removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast and placing them in camps during World War II?

• A. Victory gardens
• B. Rationing
• C. War bonds
• D. Japanese-American internment

Answer: (D)

Wartime civil liberties and government power during World War II are being tested here. The policy in question involved removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast and placing them in camps inland, based largely on ethnicity rather than individual actions. This practice, known as Japanese-American internment, grew out of fear after Pearl Harbor and led to the forced relocation and detention of about 120,000 people, two-thirds of whom were American citizens. It was authorized by executive action and used to justify separating families and confining them under military oversight in remote camps. The action reflects how national security concerns can override civil rights, at least in the moment, and is important historically because it prompted later acknowledgment of the injustice and subsequent reparations.