Abstract
While Japanese-Americans made great contributions to the United States during the twentieth century, relatively little of their history is included in the California State Social Studies Framework. In order to better understand the injustice of World War II internment, it is essential that students understand the nativist political movement in California that sought to exclude the Japanese from participation in the mainstream culture and economy. Through exposure to a greater depth of primary and secondary historical sources, students will be able to gain a more complete understanding of the process that brought about interment. Primary research which consisted of oral histories, newspaper collections and photographic archives was done at the California Museum in for Women, History, and the arts in Sacramento, CA and through various secondary source materials obtained at California State University Sacramento. On-line historical databases such as Densho, JARDA, Library of Congress and Digital History were used to obtained several primary and secondary source documents. A study of the causes and consequences of World War II internment is essential to understanding the history of political and social injustice in the United States. The development of historical thinking skills through primary source document analysis will provide students with a more complete account of the history behind Japanese Internment.