_By the President of the United States._
Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past,
and now are, opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the
States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by
the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested
in the Marshals by law: Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President
of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the
Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby
do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the
aggregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations and
to cause the laws to be duly executed.
The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the
State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal
citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the
honor, the integrity, and existence of our national Union, and the
perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long
enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first service
assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to
repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from
the Union; and in every event the utmost care will be observed,
consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any
destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of
peaceful citizens of any part of the country; and I hereby command the
persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse and retire
peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from this
date.
Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an
extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me
vested by the Constitution, convene both houses of Congress. The
Senators and Representatives are, therefore, summoned to assemble at
their respective Chambers, at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the
fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such
measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem
to demand.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the
independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.