Test your basic knowledge |

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. Agreements employers forced potential employees to sign in which the employees agreed not to join unions or go on strike.






2. 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






3. The political events of the 1960s divided the country in many ways. There were pro-Vietnam hawks and anti-Vietnam doves - those who supported the counterculture of liberated sex and drugs and those who did not - those who favored American involvement






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






5. A body of advisers to a head of state. The US president's cabinet consists of the heads of the various departments plus other advisers.






6. The mixed race of people that developed as a result of the intermarriage of the Spanish and Native American populations in the 16th and 17th centuries.






7. A tax placed on imports; its purpose is to make domestic goods cheaper to keep out foreign goods.






8. The railroad route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that was completed in 1869.






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






10. Critical term for the owners of the big business of the Gilded Age who accumulated great wealth and power.






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. The political idea that the West should be free of slavery. In 1846 - David Wilmot wrote the proviso that there "shall be no slavery or involuntary servitude in any territory acquired from Mexico -" which galvanized the antislavery forces in Congress






13. President Roosevelt's (FDR) attempt in 1936 to push a judicial reform bill through Congress that would allow him to appoint six new Supreme Court justices sympathetic to his New Deal.






14. This clause - found in the last paragraph of Article I Section 8 of the US Constitution - allows Congress to make laws not specifically delegated to it by the Constitution but that may be "necessary and proper" to carry out its delegated powers. (Als






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






16. The policy of supplying government support for corporations when they are in severe financial trouble. The Chrysler Corporation - for example - got a $1.5 billion bailout in 1980 - and the savings and loan banks received at least $159 billion during






17. Anti-communism crusade of the 1950s led by Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy. It was characterized by irresponsible accusations and smear campaigns.






18. The movement to form labor organizations made up of skilled wokrers within a particular field.






19. A slave owner in early Virginia or Maryland; later - according to the census - a man who owned 20 or more slaves.






20. A slogan used by President Lyndon B. Johnson to describe his goal of ending poverty in the United States.






21. Coins or gold and silver money - also called "hard money."






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






23. Hit and run tactics combined with hiding and ambushing the enemy. The soldier would live off the land and population in an area so that he or she need not carry many supplies. The Americans learned this from the Indians in colonial times and used it






24. 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.






25. 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.






26. A legislature composed of only one house or chamber.






27. The movement to form labor organizations that represent every worker in a single industry - regardless of his or her level of skill.






28. The study of the environment.






29. An indictment or formal charge brought by the legislative body against a government official - especially the president - in an attempt to remove the person from office. If the House of Representatives determines that a president has committed acts t






30. People who illegally manufactured - sold - or transported alcoholic beverages during the Prohibition period.






31. 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






32. 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






33. 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.






34. Derisive term for US foreign policy in the early 20th century designed to protect the investments of US corporations in Latin America.






35. The joining together of companies to control all aspects of the production process of an item - from the mining or growing of materials through production and distribution of the final product.






36. A list of persons - often secretly circulated - who are disapproved of and are to be denied employment or other benefits.






37. A political philosophy that promotes solving social issues through cooperation with private agencies rather than through direct government programs. It also stresses the personal responsibility and accountability as keys to success.






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






39. Residential communities near large urban centers. Although suburbs existed in the 19th century - they became a widespread social phenomenon in the 1950s.






40. The practice of victorious candidates distributing government jobs to friends and supporters rather than to the most qualified people. Andre Jackson gave his supporters the spoils of victory - whereas John Quincy Adams by and large did not.






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






42. A term used to describe a person who believes that the Consitution must be interpreted word by word. Thomas Jefferson believed in strict construction of the Constitution.






43. A term used to describe the ability of people to move within the social framework of a society. If the social system provides opportunities for a person born into a lower social class to move to an upper one - or vice versa - a characteristic of the






44. The practice of buying stock on credit. People pay a small percentage of the price of the stock - hoping that it will go up in value and that they can use money from the sale to pay the balance they owe. This practice contributed to the stock market






45. The idea that machinery eliminates the need for human employment-that the development of new machine-based methods of work can lead to workers' losing their jobs.






46. Technique of the labor movement in the 1930s that entailed stopping work but not leaving the factory floor - as owners were not able to hire replacement workers so long as the workers occupied the shop floor.






47. The idea that the Constitution was created by the states and so the states could dissolve it. This was advocated first by Madison and Jefferson in 1798 in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and later by Robert Y Hayne in his debate with Daniel Web






48. The belief the the US should not be involved in world affairs.






49. A grouping of nations where each one pledges mutual support to the others. This support is usually defensive in nature. The formation of alliances was a nunderlying cause of WWI.






50. Trade that takes place within the boundaries of a state. Under the US Constitution - the power to regulate intrastate commerce is delegated to the states.