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DBQ #4: Pat Brown

Alondra Marin

LBS 375: The California Experience

December 03, 2015

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As a native of California Pat Brown was aware of the issues which needed to be

addressed. Once he came into office he knew the areas which he had to tackle in order to make

California a better state. His exemplified public service helped citizens feel like they could trust

him. Thanks to his ability to take risks for the right reasons, Pat Brown was able to communicate

his vision for a better California onto others. He faced extraordinary challenges which he was

able to overcome. This helped him to shape the future of modern California. Governor Edmund

G. Pat Brown led California to its golden age. He made California legendary for having a

major water system, a great higher education, and an extensive highway system.

As a native of California, Pat Brown as aware of the water crisis problem. According to

The Governors Library, in his first inaugural address on Jan. 5, 1959, Pat brown argued,

Development of our water resources is crucial to every segment of our state. This illustrates

that he knew for certain that he had to overcome the water problem in his term of office. In 1959

the state Legislature passed the California Water Resources Development Bond Act. According

to Water Code Section 12930-12944, the objective of the act was to, provide funds to assist in

the construction of a State Water Resources Development System. The facilities would be the

Central Valley Project, and the California Water Plan. This was necessary to meet local needs

for flood control and supplement water to areas in California which had drought problems. This

forever changed California as water shaped the story if the west. His fight to pass bills in order to

build dams up North to prevent floods and to send water to Southern cities was ambitious but it

was successful. Thanks to his charming and charismatic personal Pat brown successfully

changed Californias history for the better. Thanks to his quick action California is the

prosperous state it is today. The dams and aqueduct which he fought for are still functioning
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today. They help to maintain the cities in Southern California which would not be here if it

wasnt for him.

In his first inauguration speech he also spoke about the need for higher education. There

he argued, Both our Constitution and our conscience enjoin us to invest money in young minds,

our greatest natural resources. Specifically, our growth requires us to meet these needs in public

education: Every child deserves the chance to grow in fundamental knowledge, in special and

technical skills, and in insight. I am determined that California will have the best public schools

in the United States. His passion for creating an accessible education helped to change

California. Pat Brown believed in the accessibility to higher education for everyone. He decided

to tackle the higher education issue in California. He set out to level the playing field with the

help of a Master Plan for Higher Education. He wanted to make colleges accessible to everyone.

This meant he had to come up with the money needed to build universities, which he did. He

tried his best to keep the cost of tuition down for students as he wanted an accessible and

affordable education. His creation of, The Master Plan for Higher Education has changed

California into the great state it is today. Today more students of diverse backgrounds and of low

income families have the opportunity to obtain a higher education thanks to the plan which Pat

Brown created and put in place. His legacy lives on as the youth of California are becoming

prosperous and knowledgeable citizens thanks to his hard work and passion which helped to

make it accessible for everyone to attend a higher education institute.

Lastly his legacy and influence lives on in our highway system. According to CSULAs

Spotlight article, Brown is described as the greatest freeway builder in California history as

he wanted One State, which embodied his objectives of both connecting California through an
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efficient highway/freeway system, but also in his efforts to enable to state to share water

resources. According to CSUDH, Californias population was growing rapidly, which was

reflected in the policies and laws enacted during his first term, including California highway

expansion. The California Freeway Plan of 1959 was an essential step to the creation of the

large highway system which we have in place today. Thanks to Pat Browns commitment to

Californians and their wellbeing, he was able to change California into the great state it is today.

Thanks to high highway system Californians from the North and South are free to move

throughout the state in the numerous highways we have. The highways created under his term

are still useful for transportation of people and goods. None of this would have been possible

without his hard work and dedication.

Indeed Edward G. Pat Brown had an immense impact on California. He was a kind and

passionate man who wanted to create a better California for many generations to come. His

experience as a native Californian gave him insight into the problems of water, education, and

highway which he tackled head on. He was charismatic and he was able to communicate his

vision very well. He faced extraordinary challenges which he was able to overcome. This helped

him to shape the future of modern California.

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Bibliography

1. "Edmund G. "Pat" Brown." Governors of California. Accessed December 1, 2015.

http://governors.library.ca.gov/addresses/32-Pbrown01.html.

2. "WATER CODE SECTION 12930-12944." Leginfo. Accessed December 1, 2015.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=wat&group=12001-13000&file=
12930-1294

3. "Spotlight." Pat Brown Institute. Accessed December 1, 2015.

http://web.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/spotlight/archive/2011/pbilegacy-exhibit.php.

4. "Pat-brown." Pat-Brown. Accessed December 2, 2015.

http://www4.csudh.edu/watts/schedule/founders-dinner/pat-brown.