OVERVIEW OF PRIMARY SOURCE LESSON

UNIT: WORLD WAR II
WEEK TWO: U.S. CITIZEN CIVILIAN INCARCERATIONS:

Overview of Primary Source Lesson 1: The Executive Order and Relocation

This lesson which will utilize primary source (PS) documents is one lesson contained in a larger Learning Unit on World War II. The Full Learning Unit will focus on two essential questions:

1) What was the basis of a conflict that was so deep and vast that it brought the entire world on every major Continent into war?
2) What were the reasons that the conflict of WWII resulted in the massive amount of deaths with over 50 million humans losing their lives?

The causal lenses that I as the teacher will present for us together (student and teacher) to co-investigate will be those of economics and racism/prejudice. In the first week, we will co-investigate what conflict means on an individual, national, and world basis. Then the class will analyze the economic causes of WWII especially looking at Germany, Poland and Japan. The week will end with a learning lesson and investigation of a current world conflict – the Iraq War - and its potential economic causes.

Building on the first week’s learning, especially in light of the discussions of the Germany/Poland conflict, the second week will focus on the reality that strife or fear, resulting from economic hardship, can unleash and escalate racism and prejudice within countries and world regions. In this second week of the Unit, students and I will co-investigate the Incarceration of Japanese American Citizens after the attack on Pearl Harbor, particularly investigating the role that economics and racism and prejudice may have played in this governmental action. This first lesson on Japanese Incarceration, The Executive Order and Relocation, presented here in summary format, will be the first of five lessons on the topic of Japanese Incarceration. The essential questions for this PS Learning Lesson will be:

1. Are all actions of the U.S. government justified during times of conflict or war?
2. If a U.S. government action violates our Constitution what is the citizen’s civic duty?
3. To what extent did racism and prejudice influence government policy and non- impacted citizen support of the incarceration of fellow U.S. citizens?

An anticipatory student activity will begin the lesson with students divided into four groups with the assigned task of creating a TAG for one of four Incarceration Centers (Manzanar, Tule, Poston and Gila). Students may or may not have prior knowledge of the Japanese Incarceration of Japanese American citizens and may or may not know the names of the Incarceration Centers. It is hoped that their interest will be stimulated by the unknown names and the fun of creating a form of current adolescent art – Tagging. The names of the Incarcerations centers will be discussed as the teacher gathers the class attention for the brief opening input session on the topic of Incarceration and the existence of the Camps.

The first phase of the Incarceration was enacted through governmental communications that initiated the policy of relocation of Japanese Americans. President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 will be identified as the lessons First Order PS document. Based on Think Aloud strategies in Martin & Wineberg (2008) and student activity tools presented in Drake & Brown (2003), the Executive Order PS will be presented through a teacher modeling of a Think Aloud Historical Analysis of the document’s content and context. This activity will include time for student questions about how to do a “historical think aloud” and will be followed by a small group task (4 groups) to complete the Primary Source Analysis Guide to Historical Thinking adapted from Drake & Brown (2003). The final activity for this document will be a group report back of historical findings as guided by the PS Analysis Guide.

At this point students in four groups will be invited to read, review and analyze one of four Second Order PS documents: 1) General DeWitt’s Civilian Order 92 which was primarily issued to Japanese Americans living in the Northern California region of the United States. 2) U.S. Attorney Francis Biddle’s memos to President Roosevelt issuing his findings for the legality of the Incarcerations. 3) Two photos one of Japanese American women in a 4th of July parade prior to Incarceration and the second of a Japanese American man being arrested by police and military officials. 4) A personal account of a Japanese American boy witnessing his father’s arrest from their home by the FBI. Each group will complete one PS Analysis Guide either for printed or image documents. This group work will be facilitated by active engagement of the teacher as a circulating reference guide and facilitator. A group report out and a check in regarding the Lesson's 3 Essential Questions will complete the in class lesson time.

A student assessment activity will be assigned for homework. The assignment will allow students to choose one of the following Third Order documents:
1. Echoes of Pearl Harbor in Seattle, from Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone a first hand account of preparing for incarceration.
2. Two pictures of young Japanese American girls saying the Pledge of Allegiance and one of a young Japanese American girl being fingerprinted at one of the Incarceration Centers.
3. An editorial entitled “The Best Way to Show Loyalty” from the San Francisco News dated March 6, 1942 stating that if Japanese Americans were patriotic they would willingly assent to Incarceration.

After their choice students will complete a Think Aloud of the printed document or image in front of their parent(s). They will ask their parent(s) to take notes during their Think Aloud and they will have four short questions to answer related to their Think Aloud experience. The following day in class, students and teacher will debrief the Assessment Activity, revisit the Lesson's 3 Essential Questions and gain feedback from students related to their learning and interest for further research on any of the documents presented in Lesson 1.