Summary: In this lesson, students will analyze primary sources and evaluate the degree to which they demonstrate Civil Rights advances following President Roosevelt's 1941 Executive Order providing equal opportunity in defense industries, and establishment of the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC). Students will place documents on a scale according to their weight as evidence of advancement or ineffectiveness of the FEPC. They will then formulate their own position on the effectiveness of the executive order and commission, and write out their reasoning and evidence for their formulated positions.
Overarching Questions:
- CIVICS: Have the concepts of liberty, justice and/or equality changed during the time period? If so, how and what has been the impact?
- ECONOMICS: What is the proper role of government in the economy? (Especially with regard to economic crises, national defense/security, health and safety of the people, and economic development and practices.)
NJ Student Learning Standards for Social Studies:
- 6.1.12.EconET.11.a: Evaluate the shift in economic resources from the production of domestic to military goods during World War II in terms of opportunity costs and trade-offs and analyze the impact of the post-war shift back to domestic production.
- 6.1.12.HistoryUP.11.a: Explain why women, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and other minority groups often expressed a strong sense of nationalism despite the discrimination they experienced in the military and workforce.
Link to Lesson: Confronting Work Place Discrimination on the World War II Home Front | DocsTeach