Recent Developments in CA Flashcards
Q: What changed in education?
A: The California public education system was greatly expanded in the 1960s, including a low-cost college and university system.
Q: How did water define California?
A: Regulating water resources became a fundamental political issue.
A: A series of canals, dams, and reservoirs was established.
A: Northern California water was relocated to burgeoning population centers in the south
Q: When did California become the most populous state in the nation?
A: 1964
Q: What new problems emerged in California cities?
A: Minorities were generally left out of the economic prosperity.
A: The Watts Riot (1965) focused national attention on the economic and political status of minorities.
Q: How did minorities overcome discrimination in the housing and job markets?
A: Reforms in housing, education, and employment provided new opportunities for minorities.
A: Federal affirmative action programs provided a legal basis for changing discrimination in hiring practices.
Q: Why does Cesar Chavez stand out in California?
A: He organized the first farm workers’ union in 1962 that ultimately succeeded in attaining a historic contract with the grape growers.
Q: What is the significance of Proposition 13 (1978).
A: Restructured local control over property taxes.
A: It led to cutbacks in property taxes and a decrease in the tax base available to fund social programs.
Q: What part of the state became synonymous with computers in the 1980s?
A: Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley)
Q: What economic, political, and social problems threatened prosperity in the late 1980s?
A: Immigration (both legal and illegal) from Mexico and Asian countries swelled the population and affected the social service system.
A: Increased crime, gangs, pollution, and other urban problems affected the state.
A: The cost of public higher education escalated dramatically. d. An economic downturn emerged.
Q: What distinguished California nationwide in the early 1990s?
A: Unemployment (at approximately 10 percent) exceeded the national average.
Q: How did military cutbacks following the break of the USSR impact the California defense industry?
A: The cutbacks had a ripple effect in the housing, auto, and computer industries, among others.
A: Major industrial plant closings further weakened the economy.
A: The cost of public higher education continued to escalate.
Q: What followed the acquittal of police officers in the Rodney King trial in 1992?
Triggered one of the worst civil disturbances in U.S. history.
A: Destruction in the Los Angeles area ran into the billions of dollars.
A: Guilty verdicts in the federal Rodney King trial (1993) reduced racial tensions.
Q: What are the economic advantages of California?
A: The gross domestic product (GDP) ranks California number one in the nation.
A: The California GDP ranks it among the top 10 countries in the world.
A: Vast natural resources (oil, timber, minerals, and so on) and abundant fertile land allow for future growth.
A: California leads the nation in manufacturing and agricultural production.
A: The higher education system (junior colleges, state colleges, and universities) is among the finest in the nation
