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






2. A tax that is added onto the price of goods produced - sold - or distributed within a country; for example - sales tax.






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






4. Settlers who were granted plots in the West - usually of 160 acres - under the Homestead Act of 1862.






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






6. Progressive-era reform that created a mechanism for voters to approve or reject legislation placed on the ballot. It was designed to weaken the power of entrenched political machines.






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






8. 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






9. A program providing health care for the needy (people who lived below the poverty level) who were not covered by Medicare.






10. Also called "applied Christianity -" this reform movement - driven by Christian teachings - sought to relieve the suffering of the poor.






11. A policy of empire building in which a nation conquers other nations with an aim toward increasing its power and controlling those nations. This was a cause of WWI.






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






13. 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 separation of powers.






14. Laws passed in the Southern states immediately after the Civil War to restrict the movements and limit the rights of African Americans.






15. George W. Bush's belief in the propriety of using unilateral preemptive military strikes-essentially a preventive war- to fight terrorism.






16. A person who believes in the broad interpretation of the US Constitution; that is - that the Constitution does not have to be interpreted word by word. Alexander Hamilton supported this idea.






17. 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






18. A form of nonviolent protest used by antiwar and antisegregation activists. Protesters would take over buildings - camp out in front of administration offices - or sit at lunch counters and demand to be served on an integrated basis. The first sit-in






19. 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.






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






21. A term coined in the 1950s to describe illegal or undesirable behavior by teenagers.






22. A policy developed by the Spanish in the 1500s in which the Spanish settlers in the New World were permitted to use Native American labor if the settlers promised to attempt to Christianize them. It led to the exploitation of the Native Americans






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






24. The term denoting the ongoing military battle of the US and its allies against terrorism - first used by George W. Bush when addressing a joint session of Congress following the terrorist attacks on September 11 - 2001.






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






26. 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






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






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






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






30. Trade that takes place between states. Under the US Constitution - the power to regulate interstate commerce is delegated to the Congress.






31. The name used by the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson to describe its domestic programs.






32. 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.






33. The reaction of some whites to the Civil Rights Movement and the urban riots of the 1960s. The formerly solidly Democratic South started voting Republican following the gains of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s - and many whites sent their kids






34. The political position that opposes abortion.






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






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






37. Derisive term for white Southerners who cooperated with the Reconstruction governments.






38. A country whose affairs are partly controlled by a stronger country. The US established several protectorates - such as Cuba - in the 20th century.






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






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






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






42. The result of a general shift in society in the 1920s characterized by a greater emphasis on purchasing goods.






43. The Eisenhower-era theory that one communist country would infiltrate or influence its neighbors - supporting insurrection there and causing them to become communist too. They would fall like a series of dominoes standing close together. Kennedy - Jo






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






45. 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.






46. The organizations and events in the 20th century that collectively pressured federal - state - and local governments and businesses to grant equal rights to blacks and other minorities.






47. 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






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






49. Cattle handlers who drove large herds across the southern Great Plains. The era of the cowboy lasted from 1870 to the late 1880s.






50. The exodus of white - middle-class families from cities to suburbia following WWII due to the migration of African Americans to urban centers.