Tennessee voters rejected the call for a secession convention in February 1861. Tennessee Governor Isham Harris soon began to maneuver the state into a position where secession would be inevitable. On May 6, 1861, the Tennessee legislature, urged on by Harris, adopted a "Declaration of Independence and Ordinance." The people were to vote on the ratification of this measure on June 8. A separate vote on the same date would determine if Tennessee should join the Confederacy if the voters approved the measure asserting independence of the State. On May 9, a joint committee of the legislature issued an explanation sponsored by Harris of the military alliance Tennessee had entered into with the Confederacy on May 7. During the period between April and July, Harris organized a state army, the Provisional Army of Tennessee.