The Elements of Historical Thinking: FDR and Japanese Incarceration

As an introduction, share the following two viewpoints and debrief with the recommended discussion questions. View One is from an exhibit held at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library to mark the 75th anniversary of Japanese incarceration, and View Two is a film clip from The Soul of America. 

View One

“Throughout American history our presidents have struggled to find the right balance between the highest ideals of our founding charters and the cold realities of national security. This is especially true in times of war. President John Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and Woodrow Wilson suppressed free speech and trampled on the First Amendment.

Seventy-five years ago, at the beginning of World War II, one of our greatest champions of human rights approved the incarceration of approximately 80,000 American citizens, and another 40,000 legal aliens, in the name of national security. President Franklin Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, provided the legal basis for the removal and confinement of people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast.”

View Two

Watch Film Clip 5 from The Soul of America - Pearl Harbor (8:02 mins)

Discuss using these prompts:

*Compare and contrast the two viewpoints

*What words or phrases stand out to you?

*Reflect on the source of each example and why it might project that viewpoint

First Person Account, Documents, Photographs

Note to Educators: There is a wealth of historical evidence available for students to study Japanese incarceration. With the first person account of George Takei central to this lesson’s film segment, students will use his testimony as the focal point for their examination of historical evidence. The documents and photographs provided are directly mentioned in Takei’s testimony, or echo moments he recalls. 

Keep in mind that there are many options for students to explore and analyze these historical sources—individually, in pairs, as a jigsaw activity, or this exercise can be teacher directed if analyzing historical evidence is a new activity for your class. 

Watch the firsthand account in the Interview Archive: Clip 6: George Takei

In this segment, George Takei shares his memories and family’s experience at Rohwer, Arkansas. Have students listen to the unedited version of this segment of his interview (“Family History and Personal Experience of Japanese Incarceration”). Students will recognize that many portions of his story are included in the film excerpt viewed earlier. 

Discuss:

*What do we learn about the experience of Japanese incarceration from George Takei? 

*Is a first person account useful historical evidence?

*What questions do we need to ask about the person or the recording of the account to ensure it is useful historical evidence?

Now review a series of documents:

A Chronology of Evacuation and Relocation, War Relocation Authority (WRA)

Discuss:

*What do you notice about the chronology created by the WRA?

*What words stand out as misleading or biased?

Documents archived at the FDR Presidential Library: here. Survey the descriptions of the letters and choose several to read more closely. Read EO 9066 and underline the specific actions the order outlines.

Civilian Exclusion Order. In a series of 108 exclusion orders, Americans of Japanese descent,  two thirds of whom were citizens, were forcibly taken from their homes, detained in assembly centers, and then moved to concentration camps in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Arkansas for the duration of World War II.  

Read through the Order. If you find the document difficult to read, click on More Info for a summary. Discuss:

*What are your initial reactions?

*Make a list of words you find misleading in the document. What different terms would you use that would be more accurate?

*What were the consequences of this Order?

Distribute Handout 2: Analyzing Historical Photographs. Using the questions for analyzing photographs as credible historical evidence, view and analyze each of these photographs.

Image 1: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a39404/ photographer unknown. [Caption: San Pedro, Cal. Apr. 1942. Fishing boats, formerly operated by residents of Japanese ancestry, tied up for the duration in Los Angeles harbor.]

Image 2: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004665381/ Dorothea Lange, March 1942 [Caption: Oakland, Calif., Mar. 1942. A large sign reading “I am an American” placed in the window of a store, at [401 - 403 Eighth] and Franklin streets, on December 8, the day after Pearl Harbor. The store was closed following orders to persons of Japanese descent to evacuate from certain West Coast areas. The owner, a University of California graduate, will be housed with hundreds of evacuees in War Relocation Authority centers for the duration of the war.]

Image 3: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015645490/, Lee Russell, April 1942. [Caption: The evacuation of Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order Japanese waiting for registration at the Santa Anita reception center.]

Image 4: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017699963/, Dorothea Lange, Apr-July, 1942. [Caption: Japanese relocation, California. Baggage belonging to evacuees of Japanese ancestry at an assembly center in Salinas, California, prior to a War Relocation Authority center.

What historical narrative do these photographs illustrate about the incarceration of Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II?