Chapter 8 Vocabulary

Question 1

attorney general

Answer 1

a member of the president’s Cabinet, whose primary role is to represent the United States before the Supreme Court (p. 281)

Question 2

Cabinet

Answer 2

the heads of the departments that assist the U.S. president (p. 279)

Question 3

Chief Justice

Answer 3

the head of the judicial branch of the government; presides over the Supreme Court (p. 281)

Question 4

inauguration

Answer 4

the ceremony that marks the beginning of a presidency (p. 279)

Question 5

national debt

Answer 5

the amount of money a government owes to all its creditors, including to other nations and to companies from which it purchases goods and services (p. 282)

Question 6

precedent

Answer 6

a prior event or decision that serves as an example for events or decisions that follow (p. 278)

Question 7

tariff

Answer 7

a tax on imports and exports (p. 282)

Question 8

Alien and Sedition Acts

Answer 8

a series of four laws passed to keep certain groups from immigrating to the United States; the laws gave the government power to expel aliens living in the United States and targeted U.S. citizens who criticized the U.S. government (p. 293)

Question 9

cede

Answer 9

to give up (p. 288)

Question 10

envoy

Answer 10

an ambassador (p. 292)

Question 11

French Revolution

Answer 11

the 1789 rebellion against the French monarchy that sought to put an end to upper-class privilege and demanded equality for the lower classes (p. 289)

Question 12

loose interpretation

Answer 12

an understanding of the Constitution as one that gives Congress and the president broad powers (p. 286)

Question 13

strict interpretation

Answer 13

an understanding of the Constitution as one in which the Constitution is strictly followed as it was written (p. 286)

Question 14

power base

Answer 14

an area or group of people providing the biggest influence over a political candidate (p. 286)

Question 15

radical

Answer 15

a person who supports complete social or political change (p. 289)

Question 16

sedition

Answer 16

the act of provoking rebellion (p. 293)

Question 17

Treaty of Greenville

Answer 17

a treaty between the United States and a number of Native American nations in which the Native American nations gave up their lands in present-day Ohio and Indiana to the United Sates (p. 288)

Question 18

Whiskey Rebellion

Answer 18

a series of violent protests among farmers in western Pennsylvania against a tax on whiskey (p. 289)

Question 19

XYZ Affair

Answer 19

the meeting with French agents after
France began seizing American ships in the late 18th century in an effort to prevent U.S. trade with Britain (p. 293)