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






2. Art and literature that seek to depict the commonplace in a plausible and direct manner.






3. Popular music genre - with roots in African American rhythm and blues and "doo-wop." It developed in the 1950s and was popularized by Elvis Presley.






4. 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.






5. Blacks who had been freed from slavery or were not born slaves. They lived in the cities and countryside in both the North and the South. In 1860 - there were about 500 -000 free blacks evenly distributed between the North and the South.






6. The idea that each member of the British Parliament represented all British subjects - regardless of location.






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






8. 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.






9. A list - circulated among potential employers - of alleged "troublemakers" not to be hired.






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






11. 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






12. 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






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






14. The joining together of companies engaged in similar business practices to create a virtual monopoly.






15. The condition when all adults in a democracy are granted the right to vote.






16. The system built into the US Constitution in which the three branches of government (legislative - executive - and judicial) have separate and equal powers that are limited and dependent upon each other. It is also called checks and balances.






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






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






19. 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.






20. Government policy of noninterference in business practices and in individuals economic affairs; literally translated as "to let do."






21. Labor in which the worker can leave whenever he or she wishes (as opposed to slave labor). Wage labor or work for pay is free labor.






22. Large plantation-type farm established by the Dutch along the Hudson River in the 1600s.






23. Derisive term for Northerners who went to the South during Reconstruction to promote reform or to profit from it.






24. A method of mass production whereby the products are moved from worker to worker - with each person performing a small - repetitive task on the product and sending it to the next for a different task until the finished item is assembled. In the 18th






25. A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's nation. For people under the control of a foreign power - nationalism is expressed as a desire that one's nation should become a free and independent country. For people who already live in an indepe






26. 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.






27. The first wave was in the 1830s through the early 20th century when the radicals Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Susan B. Anthony - and Lucretia Mott advocated equality - employment - education - and suffrage. The second wave - which advocated these same id






28. The name used by the administration of John F. Kennedy to describe its proposed programs for the nation.






29. 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






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






31. The political act of leaving the Union. The Southern states formed their own country during 1860-1861 after they seceded from the United States.






32. The power of the president to reject legislation. The US Congress can override a veto by the US president if it can pass the legislation by a two-thirds majority.






33. An element of President Truman's 1947 Federal Employees Loyalty and Security Program - which was designed to weed out communists and other "subversives" from government employment.






34. 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.






35. 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.






36. Cotton that grew inland in the Black Belt of the South - an area characterized by its dark soil. Short-staple cotton could not be grown profitably until the cotton gin was invented.






37. Those who were against the Vietnam War in the 1960s.






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






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






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






41. An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods is determined by individual consumer preference. It is characterized by the free-enterprise system - competition - profit motive - and pricing based on the laws of supply and demand






42. A legislature composed of two houses. The US Congress - composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives - is an example.






43. A tax on imports (goods coming into a country). Tariffs were advocated by Alexander Hamilton in 1792 and favored by the supporters of the American System to pay for internal improvements and protect US industry. Tariffs were often a main issue in Jac






44. The political advocacy of black-owned businesses and independent black political action. Stokely Carmichael first used the term in a position paper for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1965.






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






46. Opposition to communism. Extreme anti-communism was manifested in the "Red Scare" of the 1920s and McCarthyism of the 1950s.






47. Bundles of subprime mortgages that are traded like stocks.






48. The theory that the path to economic growth is through tax cuts for the rich - who will then invest in new businesses and expand old ones - employing new workers as a result.






49. 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.






50. A program providing health insurance and health care for people over the age of 65.