To prepare for analogies involving history on the MAT, it’s best to start with the most important terms — kind of like what you’d pick up from a basic college course in world history. Before taking the MAT, brush up on your history knowledge by studying these terms and their definitions.
Abolitionism: Movement to get rid of slavery
Allies: Nations that fought the Axis powers in World War II, including the United States, England, and Russia
Apartheid: Racial segregation in South Africa
Axis: Nations that fought the Allies during World War II, including Germany, Japan, and Italy
Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution
Bourgeoisie: The middle class in France before the revolution
Caste: A hereditary social class in Hinduism
Cold War: Period of tension after WWII between the United States and the Soviet Union
Communism: Economic system in which the people control the means of production
Confederate States of America: Government of the southern states that seceded from the United States during the Civil War; the northern states were known as the Union
Cultural Revolution: Led by Mao Zedong, a social-political movement in which the Chinese military worked to strengthen the ideals of the Chinese Communist Party
Czar (tsar): An emperor of Russia
Emancipation Proclamation: An order given by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, to free all slaves
Fourteen Points: Speech given by Woodrow Wilson outlining the post–World War I peace plan in Europe
Geneva Conventions: Developed humanitarian laws to be applied in wartime
Glasnost: Introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev, a period of increased openness and freedom in the Soviet Union during the 1980s; often paired with Perestroika
Great Depression: Decade-long worldwide economic recession preceding World War II
Imperialism: The domination of one country over another
Laissez-faire capitalism: Economic system in which the government does not regulate
Magna Carta: Forced upon King John by his subjects to attain liberties, it is the origination of English law; written in 1215
Manifest Destiny: Belief that Americans were destined by heaven to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean
Mayflower Compact: Governing text of Plymouth Colony
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization): Alliance of nations to defend against Soviet threat
New Deal: Economic programs during the Great Depression proposed by Franklin D. Roosevelt
Perestroika: Political movement for restructuring within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; often paired with glasnost
Prohibition: The sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol was outlawed in the United States from 1920 to 1933
Proletariat: The lower, working social class
Republic: Type of government in which the people elect representatives to rule
Suffrage: The right to vote
Trinity: Code name for the first atomic bomb
