The Japanese made up a large minority population in Seattle. In fact, the Japanese population was Seattle’s largest minority population, even greater than Chinese. In 1942, the Japanese population was 7,000 in Seattle (Takami). On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 (Takami). This forced the evacuation of 110,000 Japanese immigrants on the west coast (Takami). Two thirds of this population were American citizens. This drastic measure was brought about by fear after the Pearl Harbor attacks. In those attacks, Japanese planes attacked and bombed the United States’ Navy Warships. It was an unexpected attack and it made Americans afraid. This fear led everyone in America to believe that Japanese living on the west coast in America were helping the Japanese government by leaking secrets to it. This assumption was made about all Japanese, even though the generation born of Japanese born in America who hadn’t even heard of the emperor’s name. Regardless, they were all suspected.