Despite this man's ridiculous claims of being emperor, the citizens of San Francisco embraced this claim, sort of like an ongoing joke. Restaurants would let him eat for free in return for seal of approval and theaters would reserve front row seats for him. Under the rule of Emperor Norton, a new currency was created with his his seal. Army officers would provide uniforms for him. Police officers would salute and civilians would bow to him when he walked past them on the streets. He even made laws, one of which would fine anyone who called his city "Frisco." Not only that, but he was the first to propose the construction of a bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland. Norton's rule was brought to an end when he died from a stroke on January 8, 1880.
Although many believe America to be the greatest democracy in history, it was actually "ruled" by an autocrat for 20 years.
Wow. Thank you, Stephen, for this post. I will admit, I had no idea we had an "emperor," especially not one from so close to home. When I first read this post, I thought it was some kind of practical joke. After some more research, I believe it.
ReplyDeleteSome other interesting facts about the reign of Emperor Joshua Abraham Norton I:
1. On October 12, 1859 through the Bulletin (a newspaper), Norton abolished Congress and called representatives from each state to meet in the Music Hall in San Francisco on February 1st of the following year.
2. In addition to making grand degrees such as abolishing Congress, Norton also made demands such as "the Grand Hotel must furnish his rooms under penalty of being banished"
3. Norton died on January 8, 1880 and 10,000 people attended his funeral.
What Stephen said about the "ongoing joke" is entirely correct. Many myths have risen around Emperor Norton, and at the time, many newspapers published "decrees" that Norton did not actually make. These newspapers published Norton's real decrees, as well as made up their own, for amusement and politic's sake.
Again, thank you Stephen. This is fascinating.
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html
Stephen, this was a great find! It is so interesting that this Norton declared himself emperor of America. I wonder what grounds he based his emperorship on, and why he thought he could do this. I love that the citizens of San Francisco played along as well. Maybe I should declare myself emperor to get things for free!
ReplyDeleteStephen, I was wondering how you even found this! It's strange just all together. Though I read this post awhile back, I didn't really have much to say about it because I felt that the entire thing felt more comical than anything.
ReplyDeleteOnly recently had I thought of a connection during the day that made me want to come back and post on it (even though you already have two comments!).
While this, at the end of the day, is more than anything another San Francisco gem, it really relates back to the democratic idea (how ironic) that the people directly choose the person in power. While this might seem contradictory given that this man called himself Emperor, it shows that the ruler has no power unless the people give it to him/her or vice versa. This man was treated as "royalty" because people put power into his hands. They treated him as a person of authority, so he therefore was given authority. This is extremely democratic in the fact that the people could directly choose who they wanted to give the power to. Though this could seem like a stretch more than anything, I thought it was an idea that was interesting and very humorous as I was looking through the blog again. Thanks for the post Stephen!
Oh, and on a side note, here are some quotes that wiki has compiled about Norton and his decrees. I particularly like the one about his desire to absolve the different political parties. Enjoy!