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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. Reading tests required in some Southern states before people were allowed to register to vote. They were mainly intended to prevent African Americans from voting.






2. 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






3. 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.






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






5. Provisions in the voting laws in Southern states following Reconstruction designed to allow whites who could not pass literacy tests to vote. The grandfather clause gave the right to vote to people whose grandfathers had been eligible to vote-a provi






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






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






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






9. Perfected by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1844 - the telegraph allowed for communications over long distances by tapping out coded messages to be carried over wires.






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






11. An economic system in which a colony exists for the good of the mother country. The colony's role is to provide raw materials for the mother country (especially products that the mother country cannot produce itself) and serve as a market for the goo






12. A political system dominated by two parties. Voters reluctance to support third parties reinforces the two-party system. The first two-party system - dating back to the 1970s - included the Federalist and Republican Parties. The current two-party sys






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






14. Derogatory term used by the labor movement to describe workers who cross picket lines






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






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






17. 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






18. Populists and "Silver Democrats" who in the 1890s argued in favor of an immense increase in silver coinage as a way of stimulating a faltering economy. See Bimetallists.






19. 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






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






21. 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.






22. 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






23. 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.






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






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






26. 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.






27. Laws enacted in many states based on religious bans of personal behavior deemed immoral; for example - law prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Sundays.






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






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






30. 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.






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






32. 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






33. 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.






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






35. 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.






36. 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.






37. 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






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






39. 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.






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






41. The political belief that America's obvious future was to "o'er spread the continent -" in the words of John O'Sullivan in 1846. A corollary was that Americans would bring democracy to the "ignorant and inferior" peoples of the West. The Mexican War






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






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






44. 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.






45. The conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States from the end of WWII until the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991). It was characterized by harsh rhetoric - technological rivalry - an arms buildup - and proxy wars in developing countries.






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






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






48. 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






49. 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.






50. 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.