Ap Us History: Unit 6: Key Terms

Front 1

Citadel

Back 1

a fortress occupying a commanding height.

Front 2

Contiguous

Back 2

joined together by common borders.

Front 3

Folklore

Back 3

the common traditions and stories of a people.

Front 4

Immunity

Back 4

freedom or exemption from some imposition.

Front 5

Irrigation

Back 5

watering land artificially, through canals, pipes, or other means.

Front 6

loan shark

Back 6

a person who lends money at an exorbitant or illegal rate of interest.

Front 7

Nomadic

Back 7

a way of life characterized by frequent movement from place to place for economic sustenance.

Front 8

Probationary

Back 8

concerning a period of testing or trial, after which a decision is made based on performance.

Front 9

Prophet

Back 9

a person believed to speak with divine power or special gifts, sometimes including predicting the future.

Front 10

Reservation

Back 10

public lands designated for use by Indians.

Front 11

safety valve

Back 11

anything, such as the American frontier, that allegedly serves as a necessary outlet for built-up pressure, energy, and so on.

Front 12

Serfdom

Back 12

the feudal condition of being permanently bound to land owned by someone else.

Front 13

Ward

Back 13

someone considered incompetent to manage his or her own affairs and therefore placed under the legal guardianship of another person or group.

Front 14

war of attrition

Back 14

form of warfare based on deprivation of food, shelter, and other necessities; if successful, it drives opponents to surrender out of hunger or exposure.

Front 16

Censure

Back 16

an official statement of condemnation passed by a legislative body against one of its members or some other official of government. While severe, a censure itself stops short of penalties or expulsion, which is removal from office.

Front 17

civil service

Back 17

referring to regular employment by government according to a standardized system of job descriptions, merit qualifications, pay, and promotion, as distinct from political appointees who receive positions based on affiliation and party loyalty.

Front 18

Coalition

Back 18

a temporary alliance of political factions or parties for some specific purpose.

Front 19

Consensus

Back 19

common or unanimous opinion.

Front 20

Contraction

Back 20

in finance, reducing the available supply of money, thus tending to raise interest rates and lower prices.

Front 21

Deflation

Back 21

an increase in the value of money in relation to available goods, causing prices to fall.

Front 22

fraternal organization

Back 22

a society of men drawn together for social purposes and sometimes to pursue other common goals.

Front 23

Kickback

Back 23

the return of a portion of the money received in a sale or contract, often secretly or illegally, in exchange for favors.

Front 24

laissez-faire

Back 24

the doctrine of noninterference, especially by the government, in matters of economics or business (literally, "leave alone.")

Front 25

lien

Back 25

a legal claim by a lender or another party on a borrower's property as a guarantee against repayment, and prohibiting any sale of the property.

Front 26

pork barrel

Back 26

in American politics, government appropriations for political purposes, especially projects designed to please a legislator's local constituency.

Front 27

unsecured loans

Back 27

money loaned without identification of collateral (existing assets) to be forfeited in case the borrower defaults on the loan.

Front 29

Anarchist

Back 29

political belief that all organized, coercive government is wrong in principle, and that society should be organized solely on the basis of free cooperation.

Front 30

Cooperative

Back 30

an organization for producing, marketing, or consuming goods in which the members share the benefits.

Front 31

free enterprise

Back 31

an economic system that permits unrestricted entrepreneurial business activity; capitalism.

Front 32

Lockout

Back 32

the refusal by an employer to allow employees to work unless they agree to his or terms.

Front 33

Plutocracy

Back 33

government by the wealthy.

Front 34

Pool

Back 34

in business, an agreement to divide a given market in order to avoid competition.

Front 35

Rebate

Back 35

a return of a portion of the amount paid for goods or services.

Front 36

regulatory commission

Back 36

in American government, any of the agencies established to control a special sphere of business or other activity; members are usually appointed by the president and confirmed by Congress.

Front 37

Social Darwinism

Back 37

philosophical argument, inspired by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, that competition in a human society produced the "survival of the fittest" and therefore benefited society as a whole. Social Darwinism opposes efforts to regulate competitive practices.

Front 38

Socialist

Back 38

political belief in promoting social and economic equality through the ownership and control of the major means of production by the whole community rather than by individuals or corporations.

Front 39

Syndicate

Back 39

an association of financiers organized to carry out projects requiring very large amounts of capital.

Front 40

Trust

Back 40

a combination of corporations, usually in the same industry, in which stockholders trade their stock to a central board in exchange for trust certificates.

Front 41

vertical integration

Back 41

a single company's control of the activities in the process of creating a manufactured product--from raw materials to the selling of the final product.

Front 42

yellow dog contract

Back 42

a labor contract in which an employee must agree not to join a union as a condition of holding the job.

Front 44

Agnostic

Back 44

one who believes that there can be no human knowledge of any God or gods.

Front 45

Assimilation

Back 45

among immigrants, the process of adapting to the new society in which they found themselves.

Front 46

behavioral psychology

Back 46

the branch of psychology that examines human action, often considering it more important than mental or inward states.

Front 47

Feminist

Back 47

one who promotes complete political, social, and economic equality of opportunity for women.

Front 48

Fundamentalism

Back 48

a conservative Protestant who rejects religious modernism and adheres to a strict and literal interpretation of Christian doctrine and Scriptures.

Front 49

holding company

Back 49

company that exists to own other companies, usually through controlling interest in their stocks.

Front 50

Megalopolis

Back 50

an extensive, heavily populated area, containing several dense urban centers.

Front 51

Parochial

Back 51

concerning a religious parish or small district. (By extension, the term is used, often negatively, to refer to narrow or local perspectives as distinct from broad or cosmopolitan outlooks.)

Front 52

Pauper

Back 52

a poor person, often one who lives on tax-supported charity.

Front 53

Prohibition

Back 53

forbidding by law the manufacture, sale, or consumption of liquor.

Front 54

Sweatshop

Back 54

a factory where employees are forced to work long hours under difficult conditions for meager wages.

Front 55

Syndicated

Back 55

in journalism, material that is sold by an organization for publication in several newspapers.

Front 56

Tenement

Back 56

a multidwelling building, often poor or overcrowded.

Front 57

Tycoon

Back 57

a wealthy businessperson, especially one who openly displays power and position.