Fort Sumter surrendered on April 13, 1861. The next day, a Sunday, Lincoln met with his cabinet and military officers and drafted this proclamation calling forth the militia “of the several states” to suppress the rebellion and maintain law and order. The president called for 75,000 militia to serve for 90 days, and also set July 4 as the date of a special meeting of Congress. Northerners received the proclamation with enthusiasm. To most Southerners it was an act of coercion and induced the four remaining slave states—Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina—to secede.