Homework 28

Front 1

filibuster

Back 1

To utilize the technique of obstructing legislation by tactics such as making long speeches and introducing irrelevant amendments. “…the majority should legislate…and not be crippled by a filibustering minority.”

Front 2

landslide

Back 2

An overwhelming majority of votes for one side in an election. “The congressional landslide of 1890 reduced the Republican membership of the House…”

Front 3

clientele

Back 3

Those whom a lawyer or similar agent is engaged to represent and serve. “…after hobnobbing with his wealthy clientele, [he] had become increasingly conservative.”

Front 4

legal tender

Back 4

Any form of money that must be accepted in payment for goods purchased or for repayment of debt. “…the Treasury was required to issue legal tender notes…”

Front 5

bullion

Back 5

Precious metals in their raw form, before they are coined. “…the Treasury was required to issue legal tender notes for the silver bullion that it bought.”

Front 6

reserve

Back 6

In finance, the portion of money held back from circulation by a bank or treasury, which provides backing for its notes or loans. “…the gold reserve sank to a dismaying $41 million.”

Front 7

bimetallism

Back 7

The legalized concurrent use of two precious metals as currency at a fixed ratio of value. “…the platform…came out for international bimetallism…”

Front 8

slush fund

Back 8

An unaccountable sum of money available for questionable to corrupt purposes. “He…piled up an enormous ‘slush fund’ for a ‘campaign of education.’…”

Front 9

equilibrium

Back 9

A state of balance between competing forces or interests. “The third party system was characterized by the precarious equilibrium between Republicans and Democrats…”

Front 10

lobbyist

Back 10

Someone who promotes an interest or cause before a political body, often for pay. “…not high enough to satisfy the paunchy lobbyists…”

Front 11

concession

Back 11

A privilege granted by a government to another government, private company, or individual. “…Japan, Germany, and Russia all extorted concessions from the anemic Chinese Empire.”

Front 12

nation-state

Back 12

The modern form of political organization in which the government coincides exactly with a single national territory and population having a distinctive culture, language, history, and so on. “If America was to survive in the competition of modern nation-states, perhaps it, too, would have to become an imperial power.”

Front 13

reciprocity

Back 13

An exchange of equal privileges between two governments. “America’s grip was further tightened in 1875 by a commercial reciprocity agreement….”

Front 14

scorched-earth policy

Back 14

The policy of burning and destroying all the property in a given area so as to deny it to an enemy. “…the insurgents now adopted a scorched-earth policy.”

Front 15

reconcentration

Back 15

The policy of forcibly removing a population to confined areas in order to deny support to enemy forces. “He undertook to crush the rebellion by herding many civilians into barbed-wire reconcentration camps.”

Front 16

jingoist

Back 16

Aggressively patriotic and warlike. “…Cleveland–an antijingoist and anti-imperialist –refused to budge.”

Front 17

atrocity

Back 17

A specific act of extreme cruelty. “Where atrocity stories did not exist, they were invented.”

Front 18

proviso

Back 18

An article or cause in a statute, treaty, or contract establishing a particular stipulation or condition affecting the whole document. “This proviso proclaimed…that when the United States had overthrown Spanish misrule, it would give the Cubans their freedom….”

Front 19

archipelago

Back 19

A large group of islands within a limited area. “…America needed the archi–pelago….”

Front 20

hostage

Back 20

A person or thing forcibly held in order to obtain certain goals or agreements. “Hereafter these distant islands were to be… a kind of indefensible hostage given to Japan.”