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Historical illustration inspired by Manzanar National Historic Site.
Some chapters of American history require students to do more than memorize dates and events. They ask us to examine difficult questions about citizenship, civil liberties, prejudice, government power, and the responsibilities of a democracy during times of fear. The forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II is one of those chapters. Primary sources, personal narratives, photographs, historic sites, and government documents can help students understand not only what happened, but also how government decisions affected individuals, families, and entire communities.
Executive Order 9066 and Forced Removal
Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. The order authorized the military to establish exclusion zones and ultimately led to the forced removal of people of Japanese ancestry from much of the West Coast. More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during the war. Approximately two-thirds were United States citizens. Families were given limited time to prepare for removal and could generally bring only what they were able to carry. People were first confined in temporary detention facilities, many located at fairgrounds and racetracks, before being transferred to ten longer-term incarceration centers administered by the War Relocation Authority in remote areas of seven states.
Words Matter: Internment or Incarceration?
The phrase Japanese internment remains common in textbooks, course titles, and public discussion. However, many historians, educators, and Japanese American organizations now prefer the term incarceration when describing the mass confinement that resulted from Executive Order 9066. The distinction itself can become an important classroom lesson. Asking students to consider why historical terminology changes encourages them to think critically about language, perspective, evidence, and how words can shape our understanding of the past.
Life Behind Barbed Wire
Families lived in barracks within compounds surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by military police. Living quarters offered little privacy, and residents used communal dining halls, laundry facilities, and bathrooms. Yet the history of incarceration is also a story of community and resilience. Japanese Americans established schools, newspapers, religious services, gardens, sports teams, arts programs, and community organizations while living under confinement. At the same time, families suffered substantial economic losses. Homes, farms, businesses, possessions, and careers were disrupted or lost when people were forced to leave their communities with little notice.
Manzanar: History Connected to Place
For California educators, Manzanar provides an especially powerful connection to this history. Located in the Owens Valley along the eastern Sierra Nevada, Manzanar became one of the ten War Relocation Authority incarceration centers. Today, Manzanar National Historic Site preserves the stories of the people who were confined there. Photographs, oral histories, reconstructed structures, artifacts, landscapes, and government records allow students to move beyond statistics and encounter the experiences of individuals and families.
Teaching Through Primary Sources
Primary sources can help students investigate this history rather than simply being told what happened. Consider asking students to examine:
Executive Order 9066 and military exclusion orders.
Photographs documenting removal, transportation, and daily life in the camps.
Letters, diaries, artwork, newspapers, and oral histories created by Japanese Americans.
Government propaganda and newspaper coverage from the period.
Maps, artifacts, and evidence preserved at Manzanar and other incarceration sites.
Questions Worth Asking
• How did fear and prejudice influence government policy? • What happens when national security and individual civil liberties come into conflict? • How did Japanese Americans respond to incarceration in different ways? • What can personal narratives reveal that government documents cannot? • What responsibilities do citizens and governments have when constitutional rights are threatened?
Redress and the Civil Liberties Act of 1988
Decades after World War II, Japanese American activists and community organizations worked to obtain formal recognition of the injustice that had occurred. In 1988, the Civil Liberties Act formally acknowledged the injustice, apologized on behalf of the United States government, and authorized payments of $20,000 to eligible surviving individuals who had been incarcerated.
SOC 984
Japanese Internment Camps: Pearl Harbor–Post Release
SOC 984 retains the official course title Japanese Internment Camps: Pearl Harbor–Post Release, while also giving educators opportunities to examine the more precise terminology of Japanese American incarceration and the importance of language when teaching difficult history. Explore primary sources, personal narratives, Manzanar, civil liberties, historical evidence, and classroom resources through a flexible online independent-study course designed for educators. The course provides three graduate-level professional development credits through Fresno Pacific University’s Center for Professional Development.
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History, Citizenship, and Civil Liberties
Teaching Japanese American incarceration gives students an opportunity to examine what happened when prejudice, wartime fear, and government power collided with the constitutional rights of individuals. It is a history that encourages careful study of evidence—and important conversations about citizenship and democracy.
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Jeromy Winter
Learn more about the History of California by signing up for one of my courses at Fresno Pacific University. 
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