Lesson Plan: Japanese Americans Incarcerated

Subjects:

U.S. History or Civics/Government

• This lesson fits in either a U.S. History course covering domestic issues during World War II or a Civics/Government course examining the Supreme Court, civil liberties or the separation of powers.

Grade Level:

7-12

Lesson Duration:

• 1-2 class periods
• Timing is dependent upon the number of primary sources the teacher asks students to examine. Additional links have been provided that offer opportunities for students to delve deeper into the issue of Japanese American incarceration.

Essential Questions:

• How did the United States government legitimize its efforts to relocate and incarcerate Japanese Americans?
• What methods of resistance and support did Japanese Americans use to deal with incarceration?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Examine primary and secondary sources related to Japanese American incarceration.
• Examine the methods used by Japanese Americans to advocate for greater civil rights and liberties.

Materials:

• Retro Report video “How a 1944 Supreme Court Ruling on Internment Camps Led to a Reckoning”
• Activity: Japanese Americans Incarcerated
• “I Am An American” photo from the Library of Congress
• Japanese American Internment Camp Newspaper collection | Library of Congress
  • Manzanar Free Press archives
• Teacher’s Guide: Analyzing Photographs and Prints | Library of Congress
• Teacher’s Guide: Analyzing Newspapers | Library of Congress
• Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese-American Internment Camp Newspapers | Library of Congress

Procedure:

1. Students will begin by analyzing the “I Am An American” photograph. This can be done individually, in small groups or with the entire class.
   1. Students can view the photo on the Activity document or the teacher can display the photo using the Library of Congress link.
   2. They will use the Library of Congress “Analyzing Photographs and Prints” protocol to engage in the photo analysis.
   3. Students should analyze the photo without the context on the Library of Congress page. The last question of this section asks students to review the context of the photo, and reflect on what questions it helps them answer, and what new questions they have.
2. Next, students will view the Retro Report film “How a 1944 Supreme Court Ruling on Internment Camps Led to a Reckoning” and answer the questions provided on the Activity document.
   1. These questions are geared toward having students analyze the experiences of Japanese Americans and to provide examples of long-term impact of the Korematsu Supreme Court decision.
3. To delve deeper into the experiences of Japanese Americans in the internment camps, students will examine two Library of Congress resources related to internment camp newspapers.
   1. The first resource is the digital collection of the Manzanar Free Press, published from April 1942 to October 1945.
   2. Students will use the Library of Congress “Analyzing Newspapers” protocol to examine a newspaper issue of their choosing to respond to the provided prompts.
4. The second resource is “Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese-American Internment Camp Newspapers.”
   1. This StoryMap provides historical context for the process of relocation and internment, along with a deeper investigation of the camp newspapers.
5. The last question for students asks them to reflect on their understanding of the experiences of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated and to develop new questions they might have.
   1. For further investigation of Japanese American incarceration or the redress movement, teachers should consult the list of additional resources below.

Additional Resources:

• Fred T. Korematsu Institute
• Drawings, Maps, and Artifacts of Japanese American Confinement Sites | National Japanese American Historical Society
• Anti-Japanese Propaganda | Hampton Roads Naval Museum
• Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese American Internment at Manzanar | Library of Congress
• “Sites of Shame” Story Map” | Densho
• “Justice Deferred Story Map” | ArcGIS StoryMaps
• Database of Japanese American Internees | National Archives
• Japanese Claims Act | National Archives

About the Author:

David Olson is the Director of Education for Retro Report. Prior to joining Retro Report, he was an award-winning teacher of U.S. History, A.P. U.S. Government and Politics and Criminal Justice at a public high school in Madison, Wisc.

Standards

Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3: Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.8: Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

C-3 Framework Standards for Social Studies:

• D1.5.9-12. Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of the sources.
• D2.Civ.1.9-12. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political institutions.
• D2.Civ.3.9-12. Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the maintenance of national and international order.
• D2.Civ.4.9-12. Explain how the U.S. Constitution establishes a system of government that has powers, responsibilities, and limits that have changed over time and that are still contested.
• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
• D2.Civ.10.9-12. Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
• D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.