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. The development of large military forces - not only for defense of the nation but for possible aggression into other nations. It was one of the causes of WWI.






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






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






4. A court order stopping a specific act - often used against unions to end a strike.






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






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






7. The economic state in which prices are rising (inflation) and unemployment is high - producing stagnation of growth.






8. 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






9. 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.






10. Agricultural labor system in the South following the era of slavery wherein a sharecropper could farm a piece of land in return for giving the landowner a share - usually half - of the crop.






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






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






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






14. A type of democracy in which the people vote on the actions of the government - rather than electing representatives.






15. 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.






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






17. The traditions - language - and modes of behavior of the field hands who lived together in slave quarters. They practiced many forms of resistance to the wills of their masters - told each other African-derived tales - sand spirituals - and practiced






18. A conference attended by leaders of two or more nations.






19. 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.






20. An invention of the 1870's - barbed wire enabled farmers to enclose land and prevent the long cattle drives that cowboys conducted.






21. An increase in number - volume - scope. In reference to the Vietnam War - it refers to the increase in the number of troops and the intensity of involvement by the United States.






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






23. 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.






24. Organizations - such as the underground press - Students for a Democratic Society and its offshoots - and women's groups (like the Red Stockings) - that were interested in social change but uninterested in the debates over whether to support Russia a






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






26. Found in the 10th Amendment - it provides that any powers not specifically given to the central government or specifically denied to the state governments by the Constitution are powers that the states are granted. For example - the power to develop






27. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






34. Illegal bars and saloons that operated during Prohibition.






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






36. 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






37. 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.






38. 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






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






40. The killing of African Americans - usually by hanging - carried out by white mobs primarily in the Southern states.






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






42. Lincoln's contention that the Union pre-existed the Constitution because it began with the Articles of Association in 1774-since the states had signed on to that document - the Union could not be broken. He discussed this theory in his first inaugura






43. 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.






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






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






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






47. 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






48. 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






49. 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.






50. 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