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| | USIA - Portrait of the USA, Ch. 3 |
 | | Although on the surface the Jacksonian Era was one of optimism and energy, the young nation was entangled in a contradiction. |
 | | After Abraham Lincoln, a foe of slavery, was elected president in 1860, 11 states left the Union and proclaimed themselves an independent nation, the Confederate States of America: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. |
 | | The most serious issue of the day was the revelation that the United States had secretly sold arms to Iran in an attempt to win freedom for American hostages held in Lebanon and to finance antigovernment forces in Nicaragua at a time when Congress had prohibited such aid. |
| usinfo.state.gov /usa/infousa/facts/factover/ch3.htm (4528 words) |
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