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Article: Internment, Wartime
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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INTERNMENT, WARTIME
INTERNMENT, WARTIME.
Internment has long been recognized in American and international law. By World War II, it was regulated by a system of rules
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the Geneva Convention
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that governed the treatment of prisoners of war and civilian enemy nationals, including diplomats, resident in or captured by a belligerent nation. The United States first used internment during the War of 1812, when some resident British, mostly merchants, were ordered to remove themselves fifty miles inland. British merchants in New York City were exiled up the Hudson at Newburgh, but left at liberty.
The United States next resorted to internment during World War I. At that time about ...