In the 1860’s, the United States was on the brink of civil war. In the midst of all of this uncertainty and anxiety, one man living in the San Francisco Bay area was trying to keep everyone together. His name was Joshua Abraham Norton, and he declared himself the Emperor of America. He held the American flag proudly, waving it as if his life depended on it. As the lovable crazy guy in town, citizens of San Francisco thought this was hilarious, and they decided to go along with it.
The Emperor of America Wasn’t Even American
In the United States, there is a rule that the president must be a natural-born citizen. Joshua Abraham Norton could never grow up to be the president, because he was actually born in London, England. His parents were merchants who eventually moved to Cape Town, South Africa and lived in a small community of Jewish people.
As a young man, Joshua Norton attempted to start his own business, but it completely failed, so he started working for his father, instead. In the 1840’s, a series of tragedies began to fall on the Norton family. Both of his brothers died, so when his father passed too, he inherited the entire fortune from the trade business.
He decided that the California gold rush would be a great opportunity to make some money off of people who were becoming newly rich. When he arrived in the United States, he decided to start his own merchant business, like his father. He owned a ship, and rented out space to people who were trading goods out of the San Francisco Bay. He became an 1880’s equivalent of a millionaire, and he continued to move his money in and out of investments in products that he believed were doing well. At the time, rice was a huge commodity, so he thought he could put all of his money into it.
Joshua Norton was able to meet some of the richest people in San Francisco, and he was invited to nearly every party. He finally made a name for himself. Little did he know that his rice investment would plummet. He lost everything. News of his failure was front page news, as citizens of San Francisco relished in the fall of a wealth businessman. He was penniless, and disappeared from fine society into obscurity.
Some believe that losing millions of dollars practically overnight was enough to make him go insane. After years of disappearing from the limelight, he suddenly emerged from the darkness. In 1859, he wrote a declaration that was published in the San Francisco Evening Bulletin: “At the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton … declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States.” He also declared himself the official “Protector of Mexico”.
He did not disappoint his public. The next day, Emperor Norton dressed up in a military uniform from a nearby base. Instead of a crown, he wore a top hat that was decorated with colorful feathers. Everywhere he went, he graciously greeted his “subjects”.