On the Emperor Norton
I have decided to begin my blog with a little educative tribute to an unsung hero of American history, Joshua A. Norton, First Emperor of these United States of America and Protector of Mexico. What follows is His Majesty's proclamation of the start of the Empire of the United States of America: At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last 9 years and 10 months past of S. F., Cal., declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U. S.; and in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble in Musical Hall, of this city, on the 1st day of Feb. next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity.NORTON I, Emperor of the United States.Little is known of the Emperor Norton's early life, but what is known is that he was born in England around 1814 (some claim to the songs and trumpets of the Heavenly Hosts) to successful Hebrew Jewish merchants who's line of family comes recently from, get this, Bethlehem is what is today the present-day State of Israel. The family emigrated to South Africa in 1820 and the young Emperor Joshua spent his days studying and involving himself with his father's businesses. After 20 or so years passed, on 1829, Joshua A. Norton stepped foot on what was to become his home and empire, with a large inheritance from his father's estate to back him financially. He made his home in the Imperial Capital, known to many as San Francisco in the State of California, and with his wise dealings in the local real estate businesses, was able to raise his fortune to $250,000, a very high sum for the time period. However, the illegal republic under which our Emperor had to suffer at the time brought about its own demise by its highest courts ruling against the Emperor Norton when he sought to bring a large rice shipment from Peru to feed the people, since China had banned any shipments of its own rice outside its borders. Of course, such a cruel and illegal action towards both the people of our nation and the future Emperor caused many great problems, with minor famines on the west coast and our Emperor having to declare bankruptcy after all his money was lost on the rice venture, which was foiled by corrupt lifelong bureaucrats in the Congress. As such, the Emperor left San Francisco and legend will tell you he went into the wilderness much like Christ did and did discover his true purpose in a revelation from the Divine. When Emperor Norton returned to San Francisco after his soul-searching journey and mythical adventures worthy of an epic saga, he had become fully disgruntled with the vicissitudes and inadequacies of the legal and political structures of the United States' corrupt and republican government. On the most holy day of the seventeenth of September in AD 1859, he took matters into his capable hands and distributed letters to the various newspapers in the city, proclaiming himself "Emperor of these United States" in the Imperial proclamation shown above. Emperor Joshua Norton I did reign for 21 years and the people of the Imperial Capital did rejoice for the entirety of His Majesty's reign, even though the corrupt Congress has continued to disobey his demands and edicts to this day, making them illegal in all shapes and form. The Emperor has been known for his genius engineering designs (San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge), his expert peacemaking abilities (Anti-Chinese Demonstrations of the 1860s, where the Emperor Norton I did save many Chinese from radical Nativist attacks simply by reciting the Lord's Prayer while blocking the assailants' way and he granted complete freedom of worship plus forbade religious sects from attacking each other), shrewd diplomacy way ahead of his time (The Emperor called for the formation of a League of Nations), and friendship and even romance with the respected leaders of the world (His Majesty was to be engaged to Queen Victoria, much to the dismay of the President of France, who advised him against it, even though his friends Czar Alexander II and Emperor Pedro the II were very happy and congratulated him on his upcoming marriage). When His Imperial Majesty died on the eighth of January in AD 1880, the whole of his faithful subjects and friends the world over did mourn, with as many as 50,000 people present for His Majesty's somber funeral. The newspapers of the Imperial Capital did run the headline "Le Roi est Mort" ("the King is Dead") and was mourned as follows: "On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moon-less night under the dripping rain…, Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life" May the Emperor Norton's soul rest in peace and may God grant him repose among the saints of Heaven. Let it also be noted that he had converted to the Roman Catholic faith many years earlier, some assume during his time of self-imposed exile. If you wish to make a pilgrimage to His Imperial Majesty's tomb, he is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, California. His tombstone, humble as requested, is hard to miss.
