United States Government’s Social Contract to U.S. Citizens of Japanese Ancestry
Created by Angela Y. Wang at Clarksburg High School © 2016
Grade levels: 8-12th
Possible Units:
• U.S. History: World War II
• Any course that focuses on different points of view or historical perspectives
• Comparative history (U.S. concentration camps v. Nazi concentration camps; experiences of people of
Jewish ancestry to those of Japanese ancestry)
Synopsis/Summary of Lesson:
To acquire a thorough image of what people of Japanese ancestry experienced at Manzanar (a concentration
camp northeast of Los Angeles) during World War II, students will participate in a WebQuest. By completing
the WebQuest students will examine various resources, answer guided questions, and then create a personal
experiences diary.
Introduction:
After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated in
concentration camps. Northeast of Los Angeles, California, incarcerees attempted to make the best of their
situation at Manzanar by creating a society within the barbed fences of the camp. Students will explore various
online resources to corroborate a more accurate version of life at Manzanar.
Focus question: What was life like for a person of Japanese ancestry living at Manzanar during World War II
in the United States?
Objectives:
C3 Framework Standards:
• Connections between the C3 Framework and the CCR Anchor Standards in the ELA/Literacy Common
Core Standards—
o Dimension 3: Gathering and Evaluating Sources; Developing Claims and Using Evidence
o Dimension 4: Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions
• Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness Dimension 2, Processes, Rules, and
Laws
o D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and
related consequences.
• Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness Dimension 2, Change, Continuity,
and Context
o D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical
contexts.
o D2.His.3.6-8. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the
developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.
o D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the
significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
o D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during
different historical eras.
o D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of
people during different historical eras
• Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness Dimension 3, Developing Claims
and Using Evidence
o D3.3.6-8. Identify evidence that draws information from multiple sources to support claims,
noting evidentiary limitations.
• Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness Dimension 4, Communicating
Conclusions
o D4.1.6-8. Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while
acknowledging the strengths and limitations of the arguments.
o D4.1.9-12. Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from
multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.
Think About:
In order for the students to fully grasp the impact of Executive Order 9066 and living at Manzanar, students
should have the following knowledge:
• Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into World War II which leads to President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066
Teacher preparations include:
• Reviewing the websites and making sure they are accessible at school through a student login.
• If website content is not appropriate for student grade level and/or subject, modifications should be
made prior to the lesson. For example, teachers may want to copy and paste the content and delete
extraneous information or providing a vocabulary word bank.
• Teaching, reviewing, and enforcing student skills of sourcing and corroboration.
• Determining if the focus question is appropriate for your grade level and subject or if it should be
modified to fit the purpose of the lesson.
• Creating a rubric that details what you are looking for in the diary entry created by your students. Could
be a standard district rubric or one that is created by the teacher for this assignment.
• Determining the length of time students have for the WebQuest to ensure their success.
Recommendation would be two days: one to research and one to write their perspective.
• Scaffolds or instructional practices that can be used are:
o Assign each student a perspective (orphan, woman, man, industrial worker, farmer, et cetera) and
have them present their diary entry to the entire class.
o Form groups of students who are then each required to write a newspaper article to tell the world
what “current” news of the times are.
o Have students debate the effects of Manzanar on incarcerees’ after the war
Resources for teacher review:
• Executive Order 9066 Text:
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=74&page=transcript
• Executive Order 9066 Implementation Photographs:
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/ddr/Public%20Law%20503
• Executive Order 9066 Summary from Densho:
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Executive%20Order%209066
• Fort Minor’s “Kenji”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUBKcOZjX6g
• Lyrics for Fort Minor’s “Kenji”
http://genius.com/Fort-minor-kenji-lyrics
• 1943 Life at Manzanar photographs
http://mashable.com/2015/09/30/manzanar-internment-camp/#dZ2FmoA9gkqd
• Full collection of Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/manz/ (make sure you click “View All” under the search bar”
• Japanese American Veterans Association’s webpage on Manzanar
http://www.javadc.org/manzanar.htm
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Densho Encyclopedia’s webpage “Manzanar” (this website could be used instead of the Japanese
American Veterans Association’s webpage on Manzanar if preferred—teacher would have to review the
“Be a Reporter” page to ensure all questions can be answered)
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Manzanar/
Densho Encyclopedia’s webpage “Manzanar Children’s Village”
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Manzanar%20Children's%20Village/
LA Times “Childhood Lost: the Orphans of Manzanar”
http://articles.latimes.com/1997-03-11/news/mn-37002_1_manzanar-orphans
Oral Interview with Mieko Shintani
http://www.ht-la.org/htla/projects/oralhistory/japaneseinternment/interview.html
NBC News “Seventy Years After Manzanar, the Stories of Incarceration Live On” (includes videos
imbedded in the article)
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/seventy-years-after-manzanar-stories-incarceration-liven461751
National Park Service “Japanese Americans at Manzanar”
https://www.nps.gov/manz/learn/historyculture/japanese-americans-at-manzanar.htm
Materials and preparation:
• Making sure there is a reliable Wi-Fi or internet connection
• Web browser accessible via desktop, laptop, tablet, phone, et cetera either located in the classroom or
announced to students to Bring Your Own Device
• Upload WebQuest documents as a Google Doc, Microsoft Word document onto Google Classroom,
Blackboard or other course platform or provide them as a hard copy to students. Depending on the level
of the students, the documents may not be necessary, but teachers should ensure student learning by
providing some type of capture sheet for students.
Procedures:
1. Activator:
a. Project or distribute copies of Fort Minor’s Kenji: http://genius.com/Fort-minor-kenji-lyrics
b. Play Fort Minor’s Kenji from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUBKcOZjX6g
c. Break song into portions using the following guided questions:
i. Where was Kenji from? Answer: Japan in 1905.
ii. Why does Mike Shinoda say “I don’t know why I have to tell it but I know what it
means?” Answers will vary, but possible answer includes “It is something that is not
talked about openly or regularly.”
iii. What does “iisei” (sic) mean? This is a spelling error—it should be spelled Issei.
Answer: First generation in the United States or Japanese-born immigrant.
iv. What time period or years do you think Kenji is talking about? How do you know?
Answers will vary but possible answer includes “World War II because it says ‘everyone
was afraid of the Germans’” or “Three weeks before 1942 Pearl Harbors been bombed.”
v. Where did Kenji and his family go after Pearl Harbor? Answer: Manzanar.
vi. Describe Manzanar. Answers will vary but should include: soldiers, watchtowers, walls,
prison-like.
vii. What was the only way out of Manzanar? Answer: Join the military.
viii. What was the experience like after the camp was closed? Answer will vary but can
include “people had trashed every room, smashed in the windows and bashed in the
doors” or words like dismal, sad, broken.
2. If students require more information on Executive Order 9066, use pages 3 & 4.
3. WebQuest Learning!
Executive Order 9066
Source: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5154
Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation
In an atmosphere of World War II hysteria, President Roosevelt, encouraged by officials at all levels of
the federal government, authorized the internment of tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese
ancestry and resident aliens from Japan. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, dated February 19, 1942,
gave the military broad powers to ban any citizen from a fifty- to sixty-mile-wide coastal area stretching
from Washington state to California and extending inland into southern Arizona. The order also
authorized transporting these citizens to assembly centers hastily set up and governed by the military in
California, Arizona, Washington state, and Oregon. Although it is not well known, the same executive
order (and other war-time orders and restrictions) were also applied to smaller numbers of residents of
the United States who were of Italian or German descent. For example, 3,200 resident aliens of Italian
background were arrested and more than 300 of them were interned. About 11,000 German residents—
including some naturalized citizens—were arrested and more than 5000 were interned. Yet while these
individuals (and others from those groups) suffered grievous violations of their civil liberties, the wartime measures applied to Japanese Americans were worse and more sweeping, uprooting entire
communities and targeting citizens as well as resident aliens.
Directions: Answer the questions in complete sentences.
1.
When was Executive Order 9066 issued? What event occurred that would allow President
Roosevelt to make such an order?
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2.
Explain what the Executive Order 9066 does, in your own words.
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3.
What impact do you think Executive Order 9066 has on U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry?
Explain your response.
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Evacuation Instructions
Source: http://ddr.densho.org/ddr/densho/25/47/master/77dcd4a59d/
Photograph Analysis of Life at Manzanar
Directions: Go to: http://mashable.com/2015/09/30/manzanar-internment-camp/#dZ2FmoA9gkqd. Explore the
photographs and text from “1943: Life at Manzanar.” Complete the shapes with your notes.
I SEE...
I FEEL...
Questions I have about the photographs are...
The purposes of the photographs are to SHOW me...
Be a Reporter
Directions: To gain general knowledge of what life was like at Manzanar, be a reporter! Answer the five W’s
and “how” questions below during or after you read the Japanese American Veterans Association’s webpage
“Manzanar, California” located at http://www.javadc.org/manzanar.htm. Feel free to add your own questions!
Section
Introduction
(Paragraphs 1-5)
Notes
Where is it?
When was it opened?
What was it known as?
Who controlled it?
When did it close?
What physical characteristics (mountains,
weather) did it include?
How many people were at Manzanar?
What human characteristics (buildings, human
additions) did it include?
Daily Life
(Paragraphs 6-10)
What problems did incarcerees face?
What is Children’s Village? Where did the
children come from? How many children were
there?
What was the work that Manzanar incarcerees
contributed to the war efforts?
What occurred outside of the fenced area?
Why do you think people were allowed outside
of the fences?
When the workers did not get paid, what
happened? Was it justified?
The Manzanar
“Incident”
(Paragraphs 11-15)
What were the two sides of the “incident?”
What caused the “incident?”
What were the results of the “incident?”
How did the “incident” affect the incarcerees
at Manzanar?
Establishing a
How did the incarcerees beautify their living
Questions or other ideas I need to
learn more about
Sense of Normalcy
(Paragraphs 16-23)
situation at Manzanar?
What recreational and cultural activities did
the incarcerees participate in?
What was the loyalty questionnaire? What
impact did it have on Manzanar’s incarcerees?
Who was Sadao Munemori? Why is his
achievement significant?
When did Manzanar close? What remains?
Children’s Village Orphans
Directions: Compare Densho’s article on “Manzanar Children’s Village” located at:
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Manzanar%20Children's%20Village/ to LA Times “Childhood Lost: the Orphans
of Manzanar” located at: http://articles.latimes.com/1997-03-11/news/mn-37002_1_manzanar-orphans using the
Venn Diagram Below.
Suggested topics for comparison:
• Life before going to Manzanar
• Life at Manzanar
• Life after Manzanar
Manzanar
Children’s Village
Childhood Lost
Student Written Response
Directions: Using the knowledge you have learned about Manzanar, create a diary entry that you would want
discovered in 2050 and shared to the world. Remember to include primary source information, your own
perspective, and what has changed from your life before Manzanar to living in Manzanar.
Dear Diary,
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Until next time,