The provided text offers excerpts from a historical narrative titled "1861: The Civil War Awakening," which explores the dramatic events leading up to and immediately following the start of the American Civil War. The source focuses heavily on the secession crisis and the rise of national division, examining key figures like Major Robert Anderson at Fort Sumter and Abraham Lincoln as he prepared for the presidency. It also details the deeply rooted conflict over slavery, illustrating the radical actions of abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and the military-political maneuvers in border states like Missouri and key locations like Fortress Monroe, where the status of escaped slaves became a central issue. Finally, the text explores the early stages of Northern mobilization and the public's enthusiastic, though often chaotic, response to the war's outbreak.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.