Thematic Strand: Power, Authority, and Governance

Grade Level: 7-12

Class Periods Required: One 50-minute Period

Background, Purpose, and Context:

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes bombed American military installations in the Hawaiian islands, killing over a thousand and all but destroying the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The next day the United States officially entered World War II. The Japanese attack on American soil shocked the country, and many Americans became suspicious of any and all persons of Japanese descent in America. With the media and the government also inflating this racial prejudice and discrimination, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 12, 1942. This Act made it legal for the United States to extract Japanese-American families from their homes, often with only a few belongings, and confine them to one of several internment camps in the western United States. In analyzing the documents and articles in this lesson, students will learn how these U.S. citizens became prisoners in their own country, simply because of their cultural background. In discussing Executive Order 9066, students will gain an understanding of how racism and prejudice can become strong enough to convince a President to sign an unconstitutional act into law. They will also learn, from a student's account, how it felt to be pulled out of school, and away from one's friends, only because of one's cultural heritage. Finally, the students will form their own opinion through writing an in-class essay on the Walter Lippmann article; whether or not they agree/disagree with him, and why/why not.

Goals/Objectives/Student Outcomes/Performance Expectations:

Students will:

Examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relation to his or her social group, such as family, peer group, and school class; (NCSS Standards, pg.63) give examples of how government does or does not provide for needs and wants of people, establish order and security, and manage conflict; (NCSS Standards, pg.63) recognize and give examples of the tensions between the wants and needs of individuals and groups, and concepts such as fairness, equity, and justice; (NCSS Standards, pg. 63) write an in-class essay on whether they agree/disagree with Lippmann's article concerning Japanese-American internment

Materials:

4 Handouts taken from Japanese-American Internment: The Bill of Rights in Crisis, by Leona Hiraoka and Ken Masugi. Copyright 1994, Golden Owl Publishing Company, Inc.

Procedures:

Procedure 1: 5 minutes

Ask students hook question: "How would you feel if this evening while you were home - maybe eating dinner with your family, or just watching TV with your friends - some soldiers come to your door and say 'You have 2 hours to pack. We're taking you to a special camp.'? You have to leave almost all of your friends behind, and you can only take what you can carry with you. All this you have to do because of how you look. How would you react? What would you say?" Distribute a copy of each of the four handouts to each student.

Procedure 2: 15 minutes

Have students read through the "Bill of Rights in Crisis" handout. Then have the students look at the sheet which shows where the relocation and internment camps were located. After looking at the picture of a camp, ask students, "What other camps existed during World War II? How are these camps similar? How are these camps different? How did the American camps and Executive Order 9066 conflict with the Bill of Rights?"

Procedure 3: 10 minutes

Have the students read the Walter Lippmann newspaper article and the student excerpt about leaving his school and friends for the camps. Ask, "How do these two Americans think differently?"

Procedure 4: 15 minutes

Have the students write an in-class essay on whether or not they agree with Walter Lippmann on the subject of Japanese-American internment based on his article. The students should give specific reasons why/why not. The students should use the "Bill of Rights in Crisis" handout for examples and evidence to support their opinion.

Procedure 5: 5 minutes

During the last 5 minutes of class, ask students to share some of their ideas that they expressed in their essays. Elicit some of the examples given by the students. Have the students turn in their essays at the end of class.

Assessment of Outcomes:

Students will:

Participate in class discussion concerning their own involvement in an imaginary internment camp scenario presented at the beginning of class;

Students will form their own opinions about the internment of Japanese-Americans through an in-class essay in response to Walter Lippmann's article;

Extensions and Adaptations:

Have students imagine themselves as a Japanese immigrant who has lived in America for 20 years; have them write an essay on their reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Have students write a "letter home" to their relatives in Japan, describing life in the camps

Have students pretend they are President Roosevelt and are faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to relocate Japanese-Americans into internment camps. In an essay, have them defend why they would/would not sign Executive Order 9066.

Resources:

Japanese-American Internment: The Bill of Rights Crisis, a Golden Owl Portfolio by Leona Hiraoka and Ken Masugi. Copyright 1994, Golden Owl Publishing Co., Inc.

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: Expectations of Excellence, developed by the National Council for the Social Studies. Copyright 1994.