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PROCLAMATION CALLING FOR 75,000 MILITIA,

AND CONVENING CONGRESS IN EXTRA SESSION, APRIL 15, 1861.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

A Proclamation.

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 bylaw:

Now, therefore, I, A. 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 seventy-five thousand,
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 the 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 in any part of the country.

And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to
disperse and retire peacefully to their respective abodes within twenty
days from 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. 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 Sta