{"id":924,"date":"2013-06-28T20:26:14","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T20:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=924"},"modified":"2016-08-18T12:57:54","modified_gmt":"2016-08-18T12:57:54","slug":"presidential-proclamation-april-15-1861","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/presidential-proclamation-april-15-1861\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidential Proclamation (April 15, 1861)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Contributing Editors for this page include Daniel Caudle<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 36px;\">#41<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/node\/35998\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past\u00a0and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,\u00a0Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary\u00a0course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law: now, therefore, I, Abraham\u00a0Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtueof the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do\u00a0call forth, tho militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to\u00a0suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Audio Version<\/h3>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F120712852&visual=true\"><\/iframe>\n<h3>On This Date<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/panel\/this_date\/1861-04-15\" target=\"_blank\">HD Daily Report, April 15, 1861<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelincolnlog.org\/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&amp;day=1861-04-15\" target=\"_blank\">The Lincoln Log, April 15, 1861<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Close Readings<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8DxMPdrIH9Q\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\nPosted at YouTube by Understanding Lincoln participant Daniel Caudle, 2016<\/p>\n<h3>Custom Map<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=38.920822,-77.061625&amp;spn=0.053622,0.09553&amp;iwloc=lyrftr:msid:214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4,0004e072e677bc1066ec4,,,0,-63\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3460\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/4.5-proclamation.png\" alt=\"4.5 proclamation\" width=\"416\" height=\"463\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=38.920822,-77.061625&amp;spn=0.053622,0.09553&amp;iwloc=lyrftr:msid:214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4,0004e072e677bc1066ec4,,,0,-63\" target=\"_blank\">View in larger map<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>How Historians Interpret<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe cabinet also considered how large a militia force to call up. Some favored 50,000; Seward and others recommended double that number. Lincoln split the difference and decided to ask the states to provide 75,000 men for three months\u2019 service, which the Militia Act of 1795 authorized. Once that was determined, action was swift: the president drafted a proclamation, Cameron calculated the quotas for each state, Nicolay had the document copied, and Seward readied it to distribute to the press in time for Monday\u2019s papers. That afternoon, Lincoln went for a carriage ride with his sons and Nicolay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013Michael Burlingame,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knox.edu\/documents\/pdfs\/LincolnStudies\/Burlingame,%20Vol%202,%20Chap%2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Abraham Lincoln: A Life<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2 volumes, originally published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) Unedited Manuscript by Chapter, Lincoln Studies Center, Volume 2, Chapter 22 \u00a0(PDF), 2420.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLincoln issued that proclamation under the Militia Act of 1795. The proclamation announced the purpose of executing the laws of the United States and securing the integrity of republican government. In accordance with the terms of the Militia Act, Lincoln stated that combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law, obstructed enforcement of the laws in the seven seceded states. In virtue of power vested in the executive by the Constitution and the laws, he called forth 75,000 state militia to suppress the unlawful combinations, commanding the persons who composed them to disperse and retire peaceably within twenty days. Lincoln further issued a statement of war aims addressed to the country as a whole. He declared: \u2018I 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.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Herman Belz, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/2027\/spo.2629860.0027.104\" target=\"_blank\">Lincoln\u2019s Construction of the Executive Power in the Secession Crisis,\u201d<\/a> <em>Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Assocation <\/em>27, no. 1 (2006), 13-38.<\/p>\n<h3>NOTE TO READERS<\/h3>\n<p>This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new \u201cUnderstanding Lincoln\u201d online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford&#8217;s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at <a href=\"http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Searchable Text<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">A Proclamation by the President of the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past\u00a0and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,\u00a0Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary\u00a0course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law: now, therefore, I, Abraham\u00a0Lincoln, 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\u00a0call forth, tho militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to\u00a0suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War\u00a0Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor,\u00a0the integrity, and existence of our national Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress\u00a0wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces\u00a0hereby called forth, will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized\u00a0from the Union; and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with tho objects aforesaid,\u00a0to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful\u00a0citizens of any part of the country; and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid,\u00a0to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty days from this date.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in\u00a0virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both houses of Congress. The Senators and\u00a0Representatives are, therefore, summoned to assemble at their respective Chambers at twelve o&#8217;clock, noon, on\u00a0Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their\u00a0wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem to demand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight\u00a0hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of tho United States the eighty-fifth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">ABRAHAM LINCOLN.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">By the President.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">William H. Seward, Secretary of State.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributing Editors for this page include Daniel Caudle Ranking #41 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript &#8220;Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past\u00a0and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,\u00a0Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10859],"tags":[10867,11630,11625,11669,10861,69,10895,10862],"class_list":["post-924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-savior-of-the-union","tag-executive-order","tag-military-affairs","tag-nationalism","tag-needs-close-reading","tag-public","tag-secession","tag-war-powers","tag-wartime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4560,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions\/4560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}