Lesson Plan: 1944 Korematsu Ruling- Teaching With Primary Sources (Scaffolded Writing Resources)
Grades 7-12
In response to the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor during World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed executive order 9066. This order required Japanese-American citizens to move into internment camps as a matter of national security. As a result, tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans had to leave their possessions, homes, and businesses, often with only what they could carry on their backs. Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American man living in California, chose to ignore the order and was subsequently arrested and convicted. Korematsu later went to court arguing his constitutional rights were violated. This lesson explores the struggle of many Japanese-Americans during WWII, how the government’s view of Japanese-American internment camps evolved over time, and the impact the case still demonstrates today.
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