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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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A Weed Is a Flower
by Aliki
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.79
ABC Book of Early Americana
by Eric Sloane
2012 Dover from Dover Publications
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$10.95
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.26
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
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$7.64
Aquila's Drinking Gourd
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Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky
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Aurora Means Dawn
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in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
Bad River Boys
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Holiday House
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by Mark Henckel
1st edition from Falcon Press Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
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from Children's Press
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Battle of the Little Bighorn
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from Children's Press
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Blizzard!
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2001 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
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2021 Newbery Honor Book
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Buffalo Hunt
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Historical Non-Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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By the Dawn's Early Light
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cassie's Journey
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$4.24
Civil War Artist
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Colter's Run
by Judith Edwards, illustrated by John Potter
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Cowboy Charlie
by Jeanette Winter
from Purple House Press
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$16.11
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from Random House
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Crossing Bok Chitto
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$11.01
Dakota Dugout
by Ann Turner; illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Macmillan
for 2nd-4th grade
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Drinking Gourd
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperCrest
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Drinking Gourd OSI
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$2.00 (2 in stock)
Duel of the Ironclads
by Patrick O'Brien
from Walker and Company
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Enemies of Slavery
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Erie Canal
by Peter Spier
from Doubleday & Company
for 2nd-6th grade
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First Step
by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
from Bloomsbury Publishing
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Flatboats on the Ohio
Adventures in Frontier America
by Catherine E. Chambers
from Troll Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
Follow the Drinking Gourd
by Jeanette Winter
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Follow the Drinking Gourd
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from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Frontier Dream
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from Troll Associates
for 4th-6th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
Frontier Village
by Catherine E. Chambers
from Troll Communications
for 2nd-5th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
Go Free or Die
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen
from Puffin Books
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$6.79
Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Thomas Allen
from Dial Books for Young Readers
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Good Ol' Cowboy Stories
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from Harvest House
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$7.00 (3 in stock)
Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine
from Scholastic Press
for Nursery-1st grade
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
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$16.14
Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
from Scholastic Press
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2008 Caldecott Honor Book
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Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
from Scholastic Press
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2008 Caldecott Honor Book
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Hitty
by Rachel Field
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Personification story for 4th-8th grade
1930 Newbery Medal winner
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$7.64
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
1969 printing from Macmillan
for 5th-9th grade
1930 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Homespun Sarah
by Verla Kay, illustrated by Ted Rand
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-2nd grade
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How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
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$15.29
If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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If You Lived 100 Years Ago
by Ann Mcgovern
from Scholastic Inc.
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in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
If You Traveled On the Underground Railroad
If You Were There
by Ellen Levine & Larry Johnson
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
If You Were There
by Ellen Levine
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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$4.00 (4 in stock)
Image of War: 1861-1865 Volume 1
by Jenny Davis
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Indian Summer
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperTrophy
for 2nd-5th grade
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John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
from Rizzoli International Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Appleseed
by Steven Kellogg
from HarperTrophy
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$8.49
Johnny Appleseed: The Story of a Legend
by Will Moses
from Puffin Books
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Josefina Story Quilt
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Eleanor Coerr
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$5.09 $2.00 (2 in stock)
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie
by Peter & Connie Roop
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
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$6.79
Kids at Work
by Russell Freedman, photographs by Lewis Hine
from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
1995 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Kids at Work
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from Clarion Books
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1995 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$11.99
Kids at Work
by Russell Freedman, photographs by Lewis Hine
from Clarion Books
for 6th-9th grade
1995 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Let's Go to the Battle of Gettysburg
by Judith Spiegelman, Illustrated by Charles Dougherty
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lewis & Clark
by Steven Kroll
from Holiday House
Historical Non-Fiction for 1st-4th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$7.99
Lewis and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
from Henry Holt and Company
Fictionalized Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Liam's Watch
by Pamela Dell
from Tradition Books
for 1st-3rd grade
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Log-Cabin Home
Adventures in Frontier America
by Catherine E. Chambers
from Troll Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
Long Way Westward
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Joan Sandin
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$4.24 $2.00 (3 in stock)
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
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$8.99
Mama Went to Jail for the Vote
by Kathleen Karr, illustrated by Malene Laugesen
from Hyperion Books for Children
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Many Thousand Gone
by Virginia Hamilton
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi
by Cheryl Harness
from Simon and Schuster
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
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$9.60 (1 in stock)
Mill
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.99
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
Mountain Men
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Andrew Santella
from Children's Press
for 4th-5th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion
by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Julia Sarda
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$16.99
Mr. Emerson's Cook
by Judy Schachner
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.74
My Name is York
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Rising Moon Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Nettie's Trip South
by Ann Turner
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Old Ironsides
by David L. Weitzman
from Purple House Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
Panama Canal
by Elizabeth Mann
from Mikaya Press
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in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Paul Bunyan
by Steven Kellogg
from William Morrow & Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for
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$7.64
Picture Book of Davy Crockett
by David Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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$6.79
Picture Book of Davy Crockett
by David Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Picture Book of Florence Nightingale
by David A. Adler, illustrated by John & Alexandra Wallner
Repackaged from Holiday House
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe
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1st edition from Holiday House
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in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Picture Book of Lewis and Clark
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
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in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Sacagawea
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Dan Brown
from Holiday House
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$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Pony Express
by Steven Kroll, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
from Scholastic Press
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$7.20 (1 in stock)
Sacajawea: Wilderness Guide
by Kate Jassem
from Troll Publishing
Biography for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Sacajawea: Wilderness Guide
by Kate Jassem
from Troll Publishing
Biography for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Secret to Freedom
by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Larry Johnson
from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
Slave Family
by Bobbie Kalman & Amanda Bishop
from Crabtree Publishing
for 1st-4th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
So Tall Within
by Gary D. Schmidt, Illustrated by Daniel Minter
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
Sod Houses on the Great Plains
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 1st-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
Star-Spangled Banner
by Peter Spier
from Yearling
American History for 2nd-6th grade
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$9.34
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