During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated at least 125,284 people of Japanese descent in 75 identified incarceration sites. Most lived on the Pacific Coast, in concentration camps in the western interior of the country. These actions were initiated by president Franklin D. Roosevelt via executive order 9066 shortly after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Of the 127,000 Japanese Americans who were living in the continental United States at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, 112,000 resided on the West Coast. Japanese Americans were placed in concentration camps based on local population concentrations and regional politics. We viewed some rare footage of this period in American during class today.