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Primary sourceDocument19 February 1942

Executive Order 9066

Franklin Delano Roosevelt · 19 February 1942

FDR's 1942 order authorizing the removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, one of the most criticized decisions of his presidency.

FDR signed this order, making him directly responsible for the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans.

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Black and white photo of a printed notice titled 'Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry', issued by the Western Defense Command, April 1, 1942, listing a designated area of San Francisco and evacuation rules.
Executive Order 9066 and related exclusion notice, 1942. U.S. National Archives.

About this source

What it is

This is Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, and held today by the U.S. National Archives. It authorized the Secretary of War to designate military areas from which 'any or all persons' could be excluded.

Why it matters

Under this order, around 125,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of them U.S. citizens, were forcibly removed from the West Coast and sent to relocation centers during World War II. A surviving exclusion notice, posted publicly, shows how the order was enforced against ordinary families. The decision reveals the wartime fear and racial prejudice of the period, and remains one of the most condemned actions taken by Roosevelt as president.

Look closer

  • What reasons does the order give for excluding people, and whose rights does it not mention?
  • Why might a government issue an order like this during wartime?
  • What does the public notice tell you about how this order affected real families?

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