United States Executive Order 9066 - Definition and Overview

United States Executive Order 9066 was signed into law on February 19, 1942 (during World War II), by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, utilizing his authority as Commander in Chief to exercise war powers.

Exclusion order posted at First and Front Streets in San Francisco directing removal of persons of Japanese ancestry.

This order authorized military commanders to declare areas of the United States as military areas "from which any or all persons may be excluded." It was eventually applied to one-third of the land area of the U.S. and was used against those with "Foreign Enemy Ancestry" even though they were native-born U.S. citizens.

The Secretary of War was to assist those residents of such an area who were excluded with transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations.

Though they are the best-known case, those of Japanese ancestry were not the only ones who received such treatment. Some Italian-Americans and German-Americans were also subjected to similar restrictions, including internment. See [1] (http://www.segreta.org/), [2] (http://www.italians-world.org/altreitalie/22_intervista2.htm), [3] (http://hcom.csumb.edu/segreta/internment.html). Executive Order 9066 was finally rescinded by President Gerald Ford on April 19, 1976.

See Japanese American Internment

External link

• Text of the Order (http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=74&page=transcript)