Japanese American Children pledge allegiance shortly before being sent to Assembly centers

In 1943, the War Relocation Authority (WRA) create a survey to test the loyalty of the Nikkei, who were Americans of full or partial Japanese descent (Densho). While the majority of the questionnaire did not necessarily matter in relation to one's loyalty, there were two questions that determined someone's fate for the rest of the war.

Queston 27 asked if Nisei men, who were born in the United States from immigrants of Japan, would serve in the armed forces. And if women had an opportunity to someplace else in the armed forces, if they would also (Densho).

Question 28 asked something that to was an insult, asking if "individuals would swear unqualified allegiance to the United States and forswear any form of allegiance to the Emperor of Japan" (Densho). And was later modified to be: "Will you swear to abide by the laws of theUnited States and take no action which would in any way interfere with the war effort of the United States?" (Densho). Although the revision to Question 28 came out the next day, the staff at Manzanar decided to disregard it as they were halfway through completing the forms by then (NPS).

For those who answered Yes and Yes stayed in the camps they were assigned to for the duration of the war. Those who answered No and No, however, were typically sent to Tule Lake, an internment camp in Northern California (Densho).

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