Source Sets / U.S. History
Was the incarceration of Japanese Americans justified?
Executive Order 9066 and the Korematsu decision lay out the government's wartime case, alongside photographs, camp newspapers, and the 1988 Civil Liberties Act.
Teach it
✓ Lesson readyA ready-to-run lesson for this set: Mock Trial: Reviewing Korematsu. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.
1. Hook: look closely 3-5 min
Show: Japanese-American boarding up store front before evacuation, San Francisco (1942) (1942, Library of Congress)
Ask: This photograph was taken in San Francisco in 1942. What is this man doing, and why might he be doing it?
2. Main activity: Mock Trial: Reviewing Korematsu
Grouping: Government counsel (6), Korematsu’s counsel (6), justices (5), and witnesses; the rest serve as the court of public opinion
Setup: The question before the court: “Was the exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II constitutional and justified?” Each side argues using only the evidence cards. The five justices write a short majority opinion.
Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)
- Role cards (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
- Evidence cards for all 8 sources
- Justice ballot slips
- Assign roles 5 min
Hand out role cards and evidence cards. Read the question before the court. - Prepare 10 min
Each side chooses its three strongest cards. Justices prepare questions. - Arguments 12 min
Five minutes per side, with witnesses. Justices may interrupt with questions. - Rebuttals 5 min
One minute per side. - Decision 8 min
Justices deliberate in front of the class and vote. The majority reads its opinion. Compare with the real 6-3 decision (1944) and the 1988 apology. - Exit ticket 5 min
Students answer on a slip before leaving.
Take a stand: Was the incarceration of Japanese Americans justified?
- Justified at the time: After Pearl Harbor the government feared espionage and sabotage on the West Coast, and the Supreme Court majority accepted military necessity.
- Not justified: People were removed because of ancestry, not individual actions; most were U.S. citizens, and Congress apologized and paid redress in 1988.
3. Pacing options
15-minute bell-ringer
- 3 min Hook: boarding-up photograph
- 8 min Read Executive Order 9066 and the Korematsu majority quote; pairs decide whether the reasoning holds up
- 4 min Exit ticket question 1
Full 50-minute lesson
- 4 min Hook: photograph
- 5 min Assign roles
- 10 min Prepare
- 17 min Arguments and rebuttals
- 8 min Decision
- 5 min Exit ticket
- 1 min Buffer
4. Exit ticket
- Was the Korematsu decision right? Use one source to support your answer.
- Why do you think Congress apologized in 1988, more than forty years later?
5. Differentiation
Support
- Adapted Docs (easier reading) in this set: Executive Order 9066; Korematsu v. United States
- Give each counsel team a pre-highlighted key sentence on each card.
- Let witnesses read directly from their cards.
Extension
- Read Justice Murphy’s or Justice Jackson’s dissent in Korematsu and compare it with the majority.
- Compare Dorothea Lange’s and Ansel Adams’s photographs. How do they show camp life differently?
Suggested sequence
- Executive Order 9066Document · National Archives · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min1942 order leading to incarceration of Japanese Americans.Ask: How could a short order uproot 120,000 people?Open with this source to frame the question.
- Korematsu v. United StatesCourt case · Oyez · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min1944 case upholding Japanese American incarceration.Ask: Can national security justify limiting civil liberties?
- Japanese-American boarding up store front before evacuation, San Francisco (1942)Photograph · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 minLibrary of Congress photograph: Japanese-American boarding up store front before evacuation, San Francisco (1942). Photo attributed to Dorothea Lange. Title and other information transcribed from caption card. Photograph from U.S. War Relocation Authority. Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information Collection (Library…Ask: What does this photograph show about the forced removal of Japanese Americans?
- Hayward, California, Two Children of the Mochida Family who, with Their Parents, Are Awaiting Evacuation. (1942)Photograph · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 minLibrary of Congress photograph: Hayward, California, Two Children of the Mochida Family who, with Their Parents, Are Awaiting Evacuation. (1942). In 1942, Executive Order 9066 ordered the removal of 110,000 civilians of Japanese descent, including 71,000 American citizens, from the western United States for placement in internment camps. The evacuees were suspecte…Ask: What does this photograph show about the forced removal of Japanese Americans?
- Manzanar street scene, winter, Manzanar Relocation Center (1943)Photograph · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 minLibrary of Congress photograph: Manzanar street scene, winter, Manzanar Relocation Center (1943). 1 photographic print : gelatin silver. | 1 negative : safety film. | Rows of camp housing, covered on the outside with tarpaper, snow-covered mountains in the distance.Ask: How did Ansel Adams portray life at Manzanar, and what did he leave out?
- Ansel Adams's Manzanar PhotographsPhotograph · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 10 minAnsel Adams's 1943 photographs of the Manzanar incarceration camp.Ask: How do these photographs portray life in the camps?
- Japanese-American Internment Camp NewspapersNewspaper · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 20 minNewspapers produced by incarcerated Japanese Americans in the camps.Ask: How did incarcerated Japanese Americans tell their own story?
- Densho Encyclopedia: Civil Liberties Act of 1988Document collection · Densho · Modern America (1970-present) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 15 minDensho's article on the law that apologized and paid redress to incarcerated Japanese Americans.Ask: How did Japanese Americans win redress?Close with this source before writing.
Watch
Free videos to pair with this set. Preview before showing in class.
- ▶ Japanese Relocation (1943) · Wartime U.S. government filmInternet Archive · free, no login
- ▶ Landmark Cases: Korematsu v. United StatesC-SPAN Landmark Cases · free, no login
Teach with (more from Hillsdale): Unit 6: The Interwar Years and World War II (1919-1945) (free K-12 curriculum unit)
Culminating writing prompt
Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “Was the incarceration of Japanese Americans justified?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.
Printable writing sheet (make a copy)
Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.