New Nation (1783-1801)

The thirteen American colonies began a rebellion against British rule in 1775 and proclaimed their independence in 1776. They subsequently constituted the first thirteen states of the United States of America, which became a nation in 1781 with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The 1783 Treaty of Paris represented Great Britain's formal acknowledgement of the United States as an independent nation.

The United States defeated Great Britain with help from France and Spain in the American Revolutionary War. The colonists' victory at Saratoga in 1777 led the French into an open alliance with the United States. In 1781, a combined American and French Army, acting with the support of a French fleet, captured a large British army led by General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The surrender of General Cornwallis ended serious British efforts to find a military solution to their American problem.

Seymour Martin Lipset points out that "The United States was the first major colony successfully to revolt against colonial rule. In this sense, it was the first 'new nation.'" On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, still meeting in Philadelphia, declared the independence of "the United States of America" in the Declaration of Independence. Although the states were still independent entities and not yet formally bound in a legal union, July 4 is celebrated as the nation's birthday. The new nation was dedicated to principles of republicanism, which emphasized civic duty and a fear of corruption and hereditary aristocracy.

In its earliest forms, the United States government was far from cohesive. A series of attempts to outline and press reforms culminated in the Congress calling the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The structure of the national government was profoundly changed on March 4, 1789, when the American people replaced the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution. The new government reflected a radical break from the normative governmental structures of the time, favoring representative, elective government with a weak executive, rather than the existing monarchical structures common within the western traditions of the time.

The system of republicanism borrowed heavily from Enlightenment Age ideas and classical western philosophy in that a primacy was placed upon individual liberty and upon constraining the power of government through division of powers and a system of checks and balances. Additionally, the Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791 to guarantee individual liberties such as freedom of speech and religious practice and consisted of the first ten amendments of the Constitution. John Jay was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, whose membership was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789; the first Supreme Court session was held in New York City on February 1, 1790. In 1803, the Court case Marbury v. Madison made the Court the sole arbiter of constitutionality of federal law.

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1776
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
55 Men: The Story of the Constitution
from Noontide Press
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Abigail Adams Package (FACE)
by Rosalie J. Slater, Evelyn Witter
from Foundation for American Christian Education
for 3rd-6th grade
in Principle Approach (Location: HSR-METPA)
$19.20 (1 in stock)
Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
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America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
American Children Through Their Books
by Sister Monica Kiefer
1970 printing from University of Pennsylvania Press
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
American History Stories Volume 2
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
American Milestones: The U. S. Constitution (September 17, 1787)
by Carole Marsh
from Gallopade International
for 2nd-4th grade
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
by Gordon S. Wood
from Penguin Books
for Adult
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Are We to Be a Nation?
by Richard B. Bernstein, with Kym S. Rice
from Harvard University Press
for 10th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
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$6.40 (2 in stock)
Beginning of the Republic
A Basic History of the United States Volume 2
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$17.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Ben Franklin
See and Read: Beginning to Read Biography
by Estelle Friedman, illustrated by James Caraway
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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Benjamin Franklin
Makers of America
by Ruth Cromer Weir, illustrated by Rus Anderson
from Abingdon Press
for 2nd-4th grade
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Betsy Ross
Leaders of the American Revolution
by Vicki Cox
from Chelsea House Publishing
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$7.20 (1 in stock)
Bill of Rights
by Lucia Raatma
from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 9th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Cabin Faced West
by Jean Fritz
from Puffin Books
Historical fiction for 4th-6th grade
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$7.64 $4.80 (1 in stock)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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$16.00 (1 in stock)
Christianity and the Constitution
by John Eidsmoe
from Baker Academics
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Cobblestone Magazine: Thomas Jefferson
from Cobblestone Publishing
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$1.25 (1 in stock)
Codfish Musket
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
Constitution
American Symbols and their Meanings
by Hal Marcovitz
from Mason Crest Publishers
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Creating the Constitution: 1787
Drama of American History
by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier
from Benchmark Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Declaration of Independence
Documenting U.S. History
by Elizabeth Raum
from Heinemann-Raintree
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$4.50 (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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Drive Thru History America: Foundations of Character - Set
by David Barton, Nita Thomas
from Tyndale House
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Early American Republic: 1789-1829
by Paul E. Johnson
from Oxford University
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Era of Revolution & Nation Forming 1760's-1800's
by Kathy Sammis
from Walch Publishing
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Exploration, Revolution, and Constitution
American History Series
by Cindy Barden
from Mark Twain Media
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Fighting for Liberty and Virtue
by Marvin Olasky
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
First Families: The Jacksons
by Cass R. Sandak
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First Families: The Madisons
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First Families: The Washingtons
by Cass R. Sandak
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Founders of Freedom in America
by David C. Whitney
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Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
by Gordon S. Wood
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From Colonies to Country with George Washington - Book Only
My American Journey
by Deborah Hedstrom
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
From Colonies to Country with George Washington - Set
from Unknown Publisher
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George Washington
by Heather Lehr Wagner
from Chelsea House Publishing
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George Washington You Never Knew
by James Lincoln Collier
from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Grand Papa and Ellen Aroon
by F. N. Monjo, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
1st edition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 3rd-7th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
1st edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.20 (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.
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
History of US Book 3
History of US Book 3
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in Joy Hakim's A History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$18.98 $11.00 (1 in stock)
History of US Book 4
History of US Book 4
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in Joy Hakim's A History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$18.98 $11.00 (2 in stock)
How Our Nation Began
Christian Social History Series
by Don Sharkey, Sister Margaret, and Rt. Rev. Msgr. Philip J. Furlong
from W. H. Sadlier
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution
If You Were There
by Elizabeth Levy
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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In Defense of Liberty
by Russell Freedman
from Holiday House
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2004 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
In Defense of Liberty
by Russell Freedman
from Scholastic Inc.
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2004 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
In the Name of the Father
by Francois Furstenberg
from Penguin Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
John Audubon
Young Patriots series
by Miriam E. Mason
from Patria Press, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
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$5.60 (1 in stock)
John Hancock: A Signature Life
by Philip Koslow
from Franklin Watts
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
John, Paul, George & Ben
by Lane Smith
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$7.20 (1 in stock)
Joke's on George
by Michael O. Tunnell; illustrated by Kathy Osborn
from Tambourine Books
for Preschool-4th grade
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$3.20 (1 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)
Life & Times of Washington
by Mario Rivoire, translated by C.J. Richards
from Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Biography for 8th-12th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Life of George Washington
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$9.99 $4.80 (2 in stock)
Life of Washington
by Josephine Pollard
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
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$9.31 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Making of America
by Robert D. Johnston
Reissue from National Geographic
for 6th-10th grade
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Making of George Washington
by William H. Wilbur
2nd edition from Unknown Publisher
Biography for 10th-Adult
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Making of the Constitution
Jackdaw No. A8
by Elizabeth Bidwell Bates
Unb from Jackdaw Publications
for 4th-9th grade
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$30.00 (1 in stock)
Meet George Washington
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by Joan Heilbroner
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.94 $2.40 (2 in stock)
Meet George Washington
Step Up Books
by Joan Heilbroner
from Random House
Biography for 1st-4th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Meet Thomas Jefferson
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by Marvin Barrett
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Meet Thomas Jefferson
by Marvin Barrett
from Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$1.20 (3 in stock)
Miracle at Philadelphia
by Catherine Drinker Bowen
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Non-fiction for 9th-Adult
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Miracle at Philadelphia
by Catherine Drinker Bowen
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-6th grade
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$9.00 (3 in stock)
Noah Webster: Father of the American Dictionary
by Isabel Proudfit, illustrated by I.B. Hazelton
from Bradford Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.40 (1 in stock)
On the Road to Independence
To Pledge Allegiance #3
by Gary DeMar & George Grant
from American Vision Press
American History Reference for 9th-12th grade
in To Pledge Allegiance (Location: HISCUR-TPA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
One Nation Under Debt
by Robert E. Wright
from McGraw-Hill
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Patrick Henry
The Founding Fathers
by Stuart A. Kallen
from ABDO Publishing Co.
for 2nd-5th grade
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of George Washington
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of John Hancock
by David A. Adler, Michael S. Adler
from Holiday House
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Plain & Fancy
for Adult
in Sewing, Knitting & Crocheting (Location: SS-SEW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Presidency of George Washington
by Jack D. Warren, Jr.
from University of Virginia Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$5.00 (2 in stock)
Prospects of a Golden Age
by John Dos Passos
from Prentice Hall
for 8th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Real Johnny Appleseed
by Laurie Lawlor
from Albert Whitman & Company
Biography for Ages 9-12
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Revolution & Regeneration
by Peter Charles Hoffer
from University of Georgia Press
for Adult
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Revolutionary John Adams
by Cheryl Harness
Reprint from National Geographic
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Rush Revere and the Presidency
by Rush Limbaugh with Kathryn Adams Limbaugh
from Threshold Editions
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Sea Captain from Salem
Treegate Series Book 3
by Leonard Wibberley
Reprint from Bethlehem Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution!
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Daniel Boone, Wilderness Explorer
A Dell Yearling Biography
by Walter Retan
from Yearling
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of the Bill of Rights
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
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in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Constitution
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Marilyn Prolman
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Story of the Declaration of Independence
by Norman Richards, Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Liberty Bell
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Natali Miller
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Liberty Bell
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Natalie Miller, illustrated by Betsy Warren
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Liberty Bell
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Natalie Miller, illustrated by Betsy Warren
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Yorktown as told by Conrad Shultz
by W. Walter Van Baman
from Privately printed
History in Verse for 10th-Adult
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$12.80 (1 in stock)
Student's Constitution (adapted and abridged)
from Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness (FLA
for 3rd-6th grade
in Government & Civics Resources (Location: GOV-REF)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Teaching George Washington - Set (FACE)
by Rosalie June Slater
from Foundation for American Christian Education
for 9th-12th grade
in Principle Approach (Location: HSR-METPA)
$19.20 (1 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
by Jon Meacham
from Random House
for Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
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