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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 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.






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






3. The characteristic of a federal system of government in which power is distributed between central and local governments. This distribution of power usually is established through some outside source - often a constitution - as is the case in the Uni






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






5. 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.






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






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






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






9. 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






10. 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






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






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






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






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






15. 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.






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






17. The movement to end slavery. There were many points of view on the subject. Immediate abolitionism advocated ending slavery everywhere and refusing to cooperate with the political process (William Lloyd Garrison). Political abolitionism advocated an






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






19. 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.






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






21. 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.






22. The political and social conviction that only white Protestant Americans deserved civil rights and employment. Nativists tried to prevent the Irish and the new immigrants of the 1880's-1920's from becoming citizens or entering the country. The Know-N






23. An organization and discussion method employed by feminists in the late 1960s and early 1970s in which women would exchange experiences of discrimination - read radical analyses of oppression - and develop an understanding that the patriarchal or som






24. 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






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






26. 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






27. 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.






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






29. The formal or official approval for a constitution or amendment.






30. Historiography is the study of how history is written. Historians in the 1950s-consensus historians-in general argued that America was the world's great democracy that only did good in the world and had no conflicts at home. Largely due to the effort






31. Techniques used in industry to produce large quantities of goods using interchangeable parts and moving assembly lines. Elements of mass production were developed in the 19th century; the process was perfected by Henry Ford in the 1910s.






32. Philosophical movement - with deep roots in the United States - which holds that truth emerges from experimentation and experience rather than from abstract theory. it is associated with William James and John Dewey.






33. The practice of granting the firstborn son the right to all the inheritance of the parent's estate - rather than subdividing it and giving portions to all offspring.






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






35. Sensationalist - lurid - and often falsified accounts of events printed by newspapers and magazines to attract readers.






36. 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.






37. 1) The political theory that the people hold the fundamental power in a democracy 2) The proposal by Steven Douglas in the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act stating that the people of the territory of Kansas and Nebraska could decide though their representati






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






39. Middle-class reform movement of the first decades of the 20th century which sought to widen political participation - eradicate corruption - and apply scientific and technological expertise to social ills.






40. A type of coal - noted for being hard and clean burning.






41. 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






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






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






44. 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.






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






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






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






48. 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.






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






50. 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.