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SAT Subject Test: U.S. History Vocab

Subjects : sat, history
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A program providing health insurance and health care for people over the age of 65.






2. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s was called the "Second Reconstruction" because the first Reconstruction in the 1860s and 1870s had not brought equality for blacks.






3. A defiant act of the colonies against the British government and its tea trade agreement with East India - which was causing colonial tea merchants to go bankrupt. Protesters dumped an entire shipment of tea into the Boston Harbor.






4. The generation of children born between the end of WWII and 1964.






5. Umbrella term for biological - chemical - and nuclear weapons designed to kill large numbers of people.






6. Illegal bars and saloons that operated during Prohibition.






7. The series of laws designed to create separation between the races. These were by and large Southern state laws made constitutional by the Supreme Court decision Plessy. v Ferguson in 1896.






8. Those who were pro-Vietnam war in the 1960s.






9. Journalists of the Progressive era who exposed urban poverty - unsafe working conditions - political corruption - and other social ills.






10. A type of government characterized by a loose alliance of states leading to a weak central government and strong state governments. This was the type of government that existed under the Articles of Confederation.






11. A type of colony that was settled by a group of investors and in which the governor of the colony was chosen by the proprietors.






12. Teenagers - as an identifiable social group - emerged in the 1950s. Teenagers were seen both as a problematic - rebellious group - as well as a target for new products and cultural offerings.






13. The process of acquiring new territories






14. Machine-made or standardized parts that could be put together to make a product. Eli Whitney demonstrated to President John Adams in 1801 how a box of guns could be disassembled and reassembled randomly. Each part must be precision-made so that it wi






15. The building of canals - railroads - and turnpikes at state or federal expense. These were part of the American Plan - which became an important part of the Whig program of the 1830s. Internal improvements were also supported by the National Republic






16. A land policy developed in the 1600s in Virginia and Maryland designed to encourage settlement in the New World. It promised 50 acres to any person who paid his own passage to the New World. It also promised an additional 50 acres to any person who p






17. The principal that the Supreme Court has the power to review laws passed by Congress and actions taken by the president to determine whether or not they are consistent with the Constitution. The Supreme Court can declare a law or presidential action






18. A high tax placed on imports. Its purpose is to make domestic goods cheaper than foreign goods - thus "protecting" domestic industry.






19. Powers given to the national/federal government that are specifically stated in the Constitution. They are found in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution and may also be known as expressed or enumerated powers.






20. Motion pictures with sound. The Jazz Singer (1927) was the first movie to use sound in a significant way.






21. The post-WWII US policy that sought to prevent the spread of communism.






22. A type of economic system in which the state controls the production and distribution of certain products that it deems necessary for the good of the people.






23. The movement of mostly college-educated women to provide shelter - cultural activities - and services to the poor. The height of the movement occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.






24. The political position that favors abortion on demand.






25. A skilled worker who had learned a trade from a master as an apprentice. Shoemakers - bakers - blacksmiths. and carpenters were artisans.






26. A type of colony in which the people of the colony chose the governor of the colony. Rhode Island was a self-governing colony.






27. The policy used by the British before the War of 1812 wherein the British stopped US vessels and removed sailors from them to be used on British naval vessels. it was also used to a limited extent by the French during this same period. It was one of






28. A system of government in which the religious leaders rule. A church-state - where the church is the government - is an example.






29. The exodus of white - middle-class families from cities to suburbia following WWII - partially caused by the migration of African Americans to urban centers.






30. A form of educational protest at universities. The practice began in 1965 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor - when professors and students analyzed US foreign policy and debated with each other and-only in the earlier days of the war-with go






31. Laws made by the British government restricting colonial trade of sugar and tobacco to any country other than England or by any means other than on British ships.






32. Large corporations created by the consolidation of competing companies to form a monopoly or near monopoly.






33. The study of the environment.






34. The difference in the votes of men and women. Often men vote Republican in larger numbers that women - who are more likely to vote Democratic - producing a gender gap.






35. The practice of paying for goods at regular intervals - usually with interest added to the balance - associated with consumption in the 1920s.






36. An agricultural system in which farm workers supply their own tools - rent land - and have more control over their work than agrarian wage workers.






37. A global pact initiated in 1997 and put into force in 2005 designed to reduce greenhouse emissions to levels that would avoid climate change. The United States is not one of the 187 nations who have ratified the pact.






38. A policy in which one people or a group within a nation attempts to destroy people whose ethnic background differs from theirs.






39. The British policy of the 17th century in which the British were lax in the enforcement of laws in the colonies - thereby allowing the colonies to develop without much interference from the British government. After the French and Indian War - this p






40. A treaty in which the parties agree not to attack each other unless attacked first.






41. The series of laws designed to create separation between the races. These were by and large Southern state laws made constitutional by the Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.






42. Progressive political reform in the early 1900s that enabled voters to introduce legislation.






43. An economic system in which the state controls the production and distribution of certain products deemed necessary for the good of the people






44. A type of adjustable-rate mortgage - often requiring no down payment - offered to customers with risky credit ratings. The lending institution makes money by steadily increasing interest payments.






45. The belief that the United States should not be involved in world affairs.






46. A prosecutor chosen by a panel of three judges (appointed by the attorney general) to investigate wrongdoing in the executive branch. Established after the Watergate Scandal - the role was designed to prevent conflict of interest within the executive






47. A policy of empire building in which a nation conquers other nations or territories with the goal of increasing its power and expanding the area it controls. This was a cause of WWI.






48. Worker organization formed to press for workplace demands - such as better wages and safer working conditions.






49. The political position advocated by Jerry Falwell - Pat Robertson - and other conservative Republicans emphasizing a life of religious observance along with no drugs - no divorce - no abortions - no homosexuality - no working mothers - and no sex bef






50. The political position that claimed that we could have won the Vietnam War if we had declared war - put in more troops - had a more unified country - or given our generals free reign to fight. These positions are called revisionist because the consen