American History Final Exam Vocab

Question 1

Impressment

Answer 1

seizing people against their will and forcing them to serve in the military or other public service

Question 2

precedent

Answer 2

something done or said that becomes an example for others to follow

Question 3

aliens

Answer 3

a person living in a country, either legally or illegally, who is not a citizen of that country

Question 4

sedition

Answer 4

activities aimed at weakening the established government by inciting resistance or rebellion to authority

Question 5

nationalism

Answer 5

a strong sense of devotion to one’s country; a feeling of intense loyalty to a country or group

Question 6

spoils system

Answer 6

the practice of incoming presidents replacing current government employees with their supporters

Question 7

tariff

Answer 7

taxes on imports

Question 8

nativists

Answer 8

a person opposed to immigration

Question 8

manifest destiny

Answer 8

the idea that the United States was destined to span the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific

Question 9

tejano

Answer 9

a Texan of Latin American, often Mexican, descent

Question 9

annex

Answer 9

to take possession of

Question 10

strike

Answer 10

a work stoppage by employees as a protest against an employer to improve pay or working conditions

Question 11

yeoman

Answer 11

farmer who owns a small farm

Question 12

temperance

Answer 12

drinking little or no alcohol

Question 13

suffrage

Answer 13

the right to vote

Question 14

abolitionist

Answer 14

people who wanted to outlaw slavery in the colonies

Question 15

sovereignty

Answer 15

the belief that government is subject to the will of the people

Question 15

habeas corpus

Answer 15

a legal process that prohibits the government from jailing anyone without lawful grounds

Question 16

emancipate

Answer 16

to set free

Question 17

inflation

Answer 17

when it takes more and more money to buy the same amount of goods; increase in price of goods or services

Question 18

reconstuction

Answer 18

building something back

Question 19

amnesty

Answer 19

the granting of a pardon to a large number of persons; protection from prosecution

Question 20

scalawag

Answer 20

a name given by former Confederates to Southern whites who supported Republican Reconstruction of the South

Question 21

sharecropping

Answer 21

system of farming in which a farmer works land for an owner and receives a share of the crop

Question 22

segregation

Answer 22

the separation or isolation of a race, class, or group; separation of one group from another