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19th Century America

The 19th was the United States' first full century as a nation. It was full of birth pangs, moments of triumph, and things that made everyone shake their head and wonder what was going on. One of the most interesting of the latter bits was when British ex-pat Joshua Norton crowned himself Emperor of the United States, "reigning" from San Francisco.

Most people remember the 19th century for the Civil War. While it certainly was a significant event, one of the most important events in American history even, there were a number of surrounding factors that were just as important, and without which the War Between the States would never have developed.

Arguably the most significant of these was Western Expansion. The idea that Americans were fulfilling some kind of national destiny by claiming the Western part of the continent was called Manifest Destiny, and its origins can be found in the writings of some of the most prominent Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Their dedication to the Enlightenment ideal of human progress (that mankind controlled its own destiny, and that that destiny was to move ever forward) translated into a need to expand their country as far as possible.

As with anything else, God used that humanist doctrine to advance His own truth. While politicians and opportunists went West to obtain land, gold, and freedom, Christian missionaries went to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People like Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and Jason Lee braved the Oregon Trail simply to share their faith with the Native Americans in the Western Territories; the Whitmans even gave their lives, becoming the Pacific Northwest's most famous martyrs.

Meanwhile, back in the East the bigwigs were conspiring to breach the 3,000 mile gap between the East and West coasts with a recently improved invention: the steam engine train. The First Transcontinental Railroad wasn't completed till 1869 (four years after the Civil War had ended), but it's origins reach back to the 1840s when it was first envisioned by Asa Whitney.

In fact, the transcontinental railroad was a significant element of Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign and administration. This was the problem: the North wanted the Trans to go through their territory because they had so much industrial product to move, while the South wanted it to run through the bottom half of the States so they could transport cotton, sorghum, and other agricultural goods.

The reality was a bit of a compromise, but the violent debates that stirred Congress had no small part in fomenting the division that would ultimately erupt in full-blown war. Slavery was the main issue, but it affected so many other factors that to reduce the origins of the Civil War to slavery alone is a bit revisionist and narrow-sighted.

For a lot of the 19th century, it seemed that the United States led a charmed existence, that Progress was a sure thing and there was nothing really to fear, certainly no problem that couldn't be overcome. The last two decades were exceedingly prosperous, leading to a sense of smug optimism that only the terror of World War I, the moral chaos of the Jazz Age, and the sudden insecurity of the Great Depression could effectively end.

Not everyone was man-centered and materialistic, however. The 19th century saw a surge in evangelism unlike anything the fledgling nation had seen, so pervasive and productive that it was called the Second Great Awakening. Unfortunately, a lot of doctrinal dilution came with the new preaching, but there were plenty of genuine conversions, and much good came of them.

It's difficult to reduce a one hundred year span to a few paragraphs, and there are certainly things we could have mentioned. Comprehensive treatments aren't always the best way to study history, though; each era has its own spirit and attitudes (its own zeitgeist, if you want to get all technical and German) that best represent it. We hope you'll bear that in mind in your study of the 19th century in America, and indeed throughout your study of history here and around the globe.

Topics of Interest from the 19th Century:

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.
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1812: The War and the World
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
ABC Book of Early Americana - Coloring Book
by Eric Sloane
2012 Dover from Dover Publications
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in Alphabet Coloring Books (Location: COL-ALPH)
$10.95
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
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in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Civil War
by Susan Dye Lee, illustrated by Ralph Canaday
from Children's Press
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Abraham Lincoln
A Discovery Book
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from Garrard Publishing Company
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Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
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1940 Caldecott Medal winner
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$17.95
Abraham Lincoln
Initial Biography
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln & His Family - Paper Dolls
by Tom Tierney
from Dover Publications
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in Dover Paper Dolls (Location: COL-DOLL)
$9.99
Abraham Lincoln - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Adventure to Home
by Robert Wells, illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
by Ormonde de Kay, Jr.
from Random House
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in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Adventures of Lewis and Clark
North Star Books #29
by John Bakeless
from Houghton Mifflin
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Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
from Geography Matters
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Adventures of Munford: The Klondike Gold Rush
by Jamie Aramini
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Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
by Dave Webb, illustrated by Phillip R. Buntin
Revised from Kansas Heritage Center
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in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #22
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
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$14.99
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
On My Own History
by Marlene Targ Brill
from First Avenue Editions
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Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$7.99
America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
for 1st-4th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
America in the Time of Lewis and Clark
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
America's Robert E. Lee
by Henry Steele Commager, illustrated by Lynd Ward
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American Army of Two
On My Own History
by Janet Greeson
Reprint from First Avenue Editions
for 1st-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-Adult
American History for Young Students II
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-5th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
American History for Young Students III
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-6th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$29.95
American History Stories Volume 3
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
American History Stories Volume 4
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
American Pioneer Family - Paper Dolls
by Tom Tierney
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-5th grade
in Dover Paper Dolls (Location: COL-DOLL)
Amistad - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$3.95
Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
from Rabbit Room Press
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
Annie Oakley: Young Marksman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ellen Wilson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Antique Locomotives - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Tre Tryckare Company
from Dover Publications
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$4.99
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-3rd grade
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
from Tradition Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky
by Faith Ringgold
from Dragonfly Books
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in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
Aurora Means Dawn
by Scott Russell Sanders
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
from HarperCollins
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$5.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
Battle of Gettysburg
Stories From History
by Colin Hynson
from ticktock Media Ltd
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Bears of Blue River
by Charles Major
from Living Book Press
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$8.99
Big Book of Cowboys
by Holling Clancy Holling
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Big Book of the Old West to Color
by Peter F. Copeland, et al.
from Dover Publications
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in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$9.95
Billy the Union Soldier with 24 Stickers - Activity Book
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Black Courage
by A. E. Schraff
from Macrae-Smith Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Blazing West: The Journal of Augustus Pelletier
by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Buffalo Bill
by Frank L. Beals, illustrated by Jack Merryweather
1959 Edition from Wheeler Publishing, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill: Frontier Daredevil
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Meryl Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
By the Great Horn Spoon!
by Sid Fleischman
from Little, Brown & Company
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99 $8.00 (2 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake - Audio Book (CD)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon Pulse
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Caddie Woodlawn's Family
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Calamity Jane
by Doris Faber
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Caleb's Choice
from Lodestar Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Caleb's Story
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
California Gold Days
by Helen Bauer
1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Camel Express
Winston Adventure Books
by Olive Burt, illustrated by Joseph C. Camana
First Edition from John C. Winston
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Captive Treasure
by Milly Howard
from Bob Jones University Press
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Carolina's Courage
by Elizabeth Yates
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Central Pacific Railroad
Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series
by Clark J. Evans
from Children's Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Children of the Civil War
Picture the American Past
by Candice F. Ransom
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the Covered Wagon
by Mary Jane Carr
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75
Children of the Emancipation -1860s to 1890s
Picture the American Past
by Wilma King
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters
by Fredrick & Patricia McKissack
from Scholastic Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1995 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
Christmas on the Prairie
by Joan. Anderson
from Clarion Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Civil War Days
American Kids in History
by David C. King
1st edition from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
for 3rd-6th Grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$16.95 $8.50 (1 in stock)
Civil War Fashions - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Tom Tierney
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Costume & Fashion Coloring Books (Location: COL-FAS)
$4.99
Civil War Handbook - Confederate Captain
by Robin Robinson
from Silverleaf Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Handbook - Union Lieutenant
by Robin Robinson
from Silverleaf Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Heroines
by Jill Canon
from Bellerophon Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Civil War Paper Soldiers in Full Color
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Civil War Uniforms - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99
Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
by Nancy Whitelaw
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cobblestone "Laura Ingalls Wilder: Growing Up on the Prairie"
Volume Seven: Number Two
from Cobblestone Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Cobblestone "The Panama Canal"
from Cobblestone Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Coloring Book of the Civil War
from Bellerophon Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Confederate Girl: The Diary of Carrie Berry, 1864
by Carrie Berry; edited by Christy Steele and Anne Todd
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Conrad Elroy, Powder Monkey
by Alvin Robert Cunningham
from Perfection Learning
for 2nd-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Copper-Toed Boots
by Marguerite de Angeli
from Wayne State University
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$18.95
Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Courage to Run
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$8.99
Cowboy Boots
by Shannon Garst
from Abingdon-Cokesbury Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboy Sam and the Indians
by Edna Walker Chandler
from Benefic Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Cowboy Soldier
by Donald Russell, illustrated by Max Ranft
from Benefic Press
for 3rd-4th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboys
Usborne Beginners Level 1
by Catriona Clarke
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
Cowboys - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
Cowboys of the Old West - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by David Rickman
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99
Cowgirls - Coloring Book
by Ubet Tomb
from Bellerophon Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Crazy Horse: The Story of an American Indian
by John R. Milton
Second Printing 1975 from Dillon Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Crossing Bok Chitto
by Tim Tingle
from Cinco Puntos Pres
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.95
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon
by Paul Erickson
from Puffin Books
Historical Reference for 3rd-5th Grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$9.99
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