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Three Examples of Martial Law Imposed on US Soil

3/18/2020

7 Comments

 
Header graphic featuring three black and white images and text reading
With cases of coronavirus spreading in the United States, the idea of martial law is one of the measures considered to enforce social distance as a public safety measure. Under martial law, civil governments would be overridden by the military. It should only be used as a last resort.
In modern world history, martial law was used for suppression of political opposition in 1981 in Poland, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and Iranian Green Movement of 2009. 

Article 1, Section 9 of the United States Constitution states, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." Habeas corpus means people can seek recourse to go before a judge. However, it had been suspended in history by the U.S. Presidents. 

Only the president has the power to go into martial law on a federal level. On a state level, the governor has the right to impose martial law within the border of the state. Many of these incidents were to protect citizens against foreign attacks, while some were humanitarian efforts for public safety. 
Here are the three times the United States impose martial law over its citizens. 

1906 San Francisco Earthquake 
On April 18, 1906, an earthquake struck the coast of Northern California with an estimate moment magnitude of 7.9. The fire chief, Dennis T. Sullivan, died from injuries sustained from the earthquake. The interim fire chief sent an urgent request to the Presidio, then a United States Army post. General Frederick Funston then decided to deploy federal troops and explosives. The troops patrolled the streets to discourage looting and aided the fire department in dynamiting to demolish buildings in the path of fires. By July 1, 1906, the army withdrew from the city. 

1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike 
On May 9, 1934, the longshoremen in every US West Coast port walked out in demand for organized labor. Strikers succeeded in delaying or stopping the movement of goods by rail out of the ports. By July 5, police shot tear gas canisters into the crowd of protestors, and the picketers threw the canisters and rocks back at the police. The events eventually got more violent and out of hand, leading to two deaths. The Governor of California Frank Merrian then ordered the California National Guard to move in that evening to patrol the waterfront. On July 17, 1934, the California National Guard blocked both ends of Jackson Street from Drumm to Front with the machine gun mounted trucks to aid with the vigilante raids that were happening on the headquarters of the Marine Workers' Industrial Union and the ILA soup kitchen at 84 Embarcadero. After 87 days, the strike was ended by the Labor Council voting to terminate the general strike while recommending that the unions accept arbitration of all disputed issues. 

Pearl Harbor 
Perhaps the most famous martial law within recent history is the martial law in Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The martial law regime in Hawaii lasted for 3 years until October 24, 1944 since Japanese Americans accounted for one-third of the population in Hawaii, and it deemed logistically impossible to imprison about 160,000 people in a small territory. In a way, martial law in Hawaii was its way of interning the Japanese population in the state, while states such as California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona put their Japanese American population under the ruling of internment camps. 

Under the martial law in Hawaii at the time, all Japanese language schools were closed to enable children to work in the plantation fields. Food and liquor sales, parking and traffic, prostitution, hospitals, and emergency facilities were under the direct supervision of the army. Any fishermen of Japanese descent could not go out in the sea due to fear of espionage. Many Japanese Americans lost their jobs or were accused of capital crimes, sabotage, or offenses and were punishable by a fine of $5000. In the period of martial law, the military collected more than $1 million in penalties during the war and imprisoned hundreds of civilians. 

These are unprecedented times with COVID19, and extreme measures should be considered. However, is it really necessary for martial law to be enforced? 

References: 
  1.  "Looting Claims Against the U.S. Army Following the 1906 Earthquake". Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  2. Nolte, Carl (May 27 2007). "Sam Kagel -- arbitrator in major labor disputes (obit)". SF Gate. Retrieved March 18, 2020.​
  3. "Martial law in Hawaii". Densho Encyclopedia, Retrieved March 18, 2020

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7 Comments
Rav
4/17/2020 01:58:32 pm

IS there more like this artical? it was really interesting and i want to know more

Reply
Donald M Hughes
8/27/2020 02:03:32 am

A very interesting article as in the wake of the terrible turmoil that is ongoing in the United States of America. It seems strange to me that the cuŕrent turmoil is occurring in the "Left Coast" again. Isn't this the richest or next to the "East Coast " as the richest region in the USA? Us dumb "Mid-west " people just don't understand.

Reply
Robert Oldham link
12/15/2020 11:51:06 am

Yes we must have marshal law to uncover election fraud.

Reply
Danny Vestal link
12/17/2020 08:37:45 am

Mr Robert, You are VERY correct. Martial Law will be used with this fraud of an election! It's soo rediculous that the bar has to go this high. When you're dealing with such evil and anti God rhetoric, I'd say it's way overdue! TRUMP2020..DID WIN!

Reply
Bert Johnson
12/18/2020 03:25:21 pm

That DJT has mesmerized/hypnotized/convinced 70 million people that he’s a demigod, despite the havoc and wasteland he’s leaving in his wake, and that his mind ndless base believes his rhetoric that the election was stolen from him is beyond mind-boggling. 126 House representatives signed some sort of document which is actually an attempt at a coup because they also believe his idiotic and relentless attempts to maintain power in the White House. There is no way that the American public will tolerate a potential martial law ordered by DJT, nor would the SCOTUS uphold anything designed to hold another election, especially after repeated failed challenges through a variety of courts including the SCOTUS in which Trump and the Republicans were unable to provide any evidence whatsoever of Electrician wrongdoing. This is not a monarchy!

Reply
Newport beach divorce attorney link
9/8/2022 12:21:09 pm

In a way, martial law in Hawaii was its way of interning the Japanese population in the state, while states such as California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona put their Japanese American population under the ruling of internment camps. Thank you for making this such an awesome post!

Reply
Property division attorney link
9/8/2022 12:44:38 pm

The Governor of California Frank Merrian then ordered the California National Guard to move in that evening to patrol the waterfront. Thank you for the beautiful post!

Reply



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  • Home
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        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
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      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
      • Hunger for Power and Self-SufficiencyI - Guide >
        • The Influence of War Rations on Post-War Culinary Transformations
        • How World War II Complicated Food Scarcity and Invention
        • American Military Innovations
        • Government-Sponsored Food Inventions in Europe during World War II
        • Feeding the Army: The Adaptation of Japanese Military Cuisine and Its Impact on the Philippines
        • Mixed Dishes: Culinary Innovations Driven by Necessity and Food Scarcity
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute