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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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1846 - Portrait of the Nation
by Smithsonian Institute
from Smithsonian Books
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches
Dover Thrift Editions
by Abraham Lincoln & John Grafton, editor
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Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
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Adventures of Davy Crockett
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Age of Fighting Sail
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1st edition from Doubleday & Company
American Naval History for 8th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
American Civil War
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
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American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
from History Compass
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
American Yesterday
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
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1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
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Battle Cry of Freedom
Oxford History of the United States
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from Oxford University
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$28.99
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by Brian Steel Wills
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Battle of Gettysburg
by Frank A. Haskell & William C. Oates
from Chapman Billies, Inc
Historical Non-fiction for 9th-Adult
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Beginning of the Republic
A Basic History of the United States Volume 2
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
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Behind the Scenes
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-12th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Black Odyssey
by Mary Cable
from Penguin Classics
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Butter in the Well: Historical Diary 1868-1888
by Linda K. Hubalek
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Chickamauga
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Chief Joseph Country
by Bill Gulick
3rd Printing 1994 from Caxton Press
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Battles
by Curt Johnson
1st edition from Crescent Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Between the States
by Tom Spencer
from Logos School
Historical Reference for 9th-12th grade
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$18.00
Civil War Book of Facts
by Frank Burd
from Americana Souvenirs & Gifts
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Civil War Songbook
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Civil War Stories
Dover Thrift Editions
by Ambrose Bierce
from Dover Publications
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$5.00
Civil War: 1850-1895
American History by Era Volume 5
by Auriana Ojeda, book editor
from Greenhaven Press
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War: A History
by Harry Hansen, Introduction by Richard S. Wheeler, Foreword by Gary Gallagher
from New American Library
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Civil War: A Narrative - 3 Volume Set
by Shelby Foote
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$88.00
Co. Aytch
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from Touchstone
Historical Non-fiction for 8th-Adult
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$17.00
Confederate War
by Gary W. Gallagher
from Harvard University Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Dark Venture
by Audrey White Beyer, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History
Dover Thrift Editions
by John Grafton, editor
from Dover Publications
Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
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$5.00
Democracy in America
Penguin Classics
by Alexis De Tocqueville
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American Government for 11th-12th grade
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$16.00
Democracy in America
by Alexis De Tocqueville
from Harper Perennial
American Government for 11th-12th grade
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$24.99
Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War
by Judith McGuire
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$9.50 (1 in stock)
Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men
by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
1st edition from Open Court Publishing
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Era Of Civil War & Reconstruction 1860-1877
Focus on U.S. History
by Kathy Sammis
from Walch Publishing
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Era Of Expansion & Reform 1800-1860
Focus on U.S. History
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Era Of Industrial Growth & Foreign Expansion 1865-1900
Focus on U.S. History
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$19.95
Forever Free
by Eric Foner, illustrations edited with commentary by Joshua Brown
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
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Gettysburg
by Frank A. Haskell & William C. Oates
from Bantam Books
Historical Non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.00
Gettysburg: Battle & Battlefield
by W. C. Storrick
from Barnes & Noble
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gettysburg: The Final Fury
by Bruce Catton, photographs by Matthew Brady
1982 Edition from Berkley Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gilded Age: A History in Documents
Pages From History
by Janette Thomas Greenwood
from Oxford University
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman
by Gladys Aylward
from Moody Press
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$9.99
Gods and Generals
by Jeff Shaara
from Ballantine Books
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Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Romance for 9th-12th grade
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$24.00
Great Battles of the Civil War
by John Macdonald
from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Great Bridge
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
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$20.00
Great Courses - American Civil War
from The Teaching Company
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$30.00 (1 in stock)
Growth of America
A Basic History of the United States Volume 4
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-BHUS)
$19.00
Harriet Beecher Stowe
by Suzanne M. Coil
from Franklin Watts
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Harriet Tubman: Moses of Her People
from Dover Publications
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$7.95
History Channel Presents: The War of 1812 - 2 DVDs
from History Channel
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
History of Human Society: Pioneer America
The History of Human Society
by John R. Alden
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
House Divided
by Ben Ames Williams, jacket & illustrations by Reginald Marsh
from Houghton Mifflin
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
House of the Seven Gables
Signet Classics
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Signet Classics
Fantasy for 9th-12th grade
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$5.95
If The South Had Won The Civil War
by MacKinlay Kantor
from Forge
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
from Dover Publications
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$5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Jacksonland
by Steve Inskeep
from Penguin Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Jefferson Davis and His Generals
by Steven E. Woodworth
from University Press of Kansas
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
John Brown Russwurm
by Mary Sagarin, Introduction by Ernest Kaiser
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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John Brown's Body
by Stephen Vincent Benet
from Rinehart & Company, Inc.
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Pulitzer Prize Winner
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Journals of Lewis & Clark
Signet Classics
by John Bakeless, editor
from Signet Classics
Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
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$9.95
Killer Angels
by Michael Shaara
1st edition from Ballantine Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Killer Angels
by Michael Shaara
50th Anniversary from Ballantine Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$20.00
Labor's Untold Story
by Herbert M. Morais, Richard O. Boyer
3rd edition from United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer
for 9th-Adult
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$5.00 (2 in stock)
Land of Hope
by Wilfred M. McClay
from Encounter Books
for 10th-Adult
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$49.99 $25.00 (1 in stock)
Laura
by Donald Zochert
from Avon Books
for 7th grade-adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pioneer Girl
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill
from South Dakota State Historical Society Press
for 7th-Adult
in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$39.99
Leaders of the North and South
Civil War Chronicles
by Bill Sell
from MetroBooks
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Leafy Rivers
by Jessamyn West
First Edition from Harcourt, Brace & World
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lewis & Clark: An illustrated History
by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
2004 printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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$12.50 (1 in stock)
Life of Andrew Jackson
by John S. Jenkins
from New Leaf Press
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$13.50
Life of John Newton
by American Missionary Fellowship
from Attic Books
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$9.50
Life of Josiah Henson
by Josiah Henson
from Dover Publications
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in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00
Life on the Mississippi
Signet Classics
by Mark Twain
from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.95
Life on the Mississippi
Signet Classics
by Mark Twain
from Harper & Brothers
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Little Bighorn
by Robert Nightengale
from Far West Publishing
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Little House Coloring Book
Clr Csm from HarperCollins
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$18.99
Little Women
by Lousia May Alcott
from Penguin Putnam
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
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$11.00
Log Cabin Cooking
by Barbara Swell
from Native Ground Music, Inc.
for 6th-12th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Mark Twain
by Edward Wagenknecht
2nd Printing, 1962 from University of Oklahoma Press
for 10th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Massacre at Fall Creek
by Jessamyn West
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mathew Brady
by James D. Horan
from Bonanza Books
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Memorial Volume of Jefferson Davis
by J. William Jones
from Sprinkle Publications
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$22.00 (2 in stock)
Mirror of War: The Washington Star Reports the Civil War
by John W. Stepp, I. William Hill
from Prentice Hall
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mornings on Horseback
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
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National; Book Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$20.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Mosby's Rangers
by Jeffry D. Wert
from Simon and Schuster
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mountain Men
by George Frederick Ruxton, edited and illustrated by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$21.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
My Antonia
Signet Classics
by Willa Cather
from Signet Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.95
Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
by David Crockett
Reprint from Bison Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95 $8.50 (1 in stock)
Naval War of 1812
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
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$15.95
Naval Warfare
Civil War Chronicles
by John C. Wideman
from MetroBooks
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in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
O Pioneers!
Signet Classics
by Willa Cather
from Signet Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.95
Old West: Miners
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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