He Was a Catalyst for Political Debate
Even though this all seems crazy from the outside, Norton may have actually been a genius who knew how to get the public’s attention. During the Civil War, California was on the side of the Union, but it subscribed to the idea of an American “Empire”. A lot of the town businesses were even called “Empire”, like The Empire Hotel and the Empire Brewery. Norton was just the first guy to actually stand up and declare himself the Emperor.
It seems as though Joshua Abraham Norton knew that if they wanted to prevent the United States from falling apart during the Civil War, people needed to start talking openly about their issues if there was any hope that they could stick together. He strongly disagreed with how Congress was running the country, and he felt as though the country deserved much better. Even if he was penniless and homeless, Norton decided that his life was not going to waste. He wanted to make an impact on American people in the only way he knew how.
He spent nearly every day in the library doing research on various political topics and current events so that he would have an educated background on the subject he was prepared to talk about. Then, he would walk into the center of San Francisco and very literally give a soap box speech about what he believed was the correct solution to an existing problem.
If someone challenged or disagreed with his beliefs, they would get into a friendly debate with one another. He did not mind if his opinion was different than someone else’s. He just wanted the citizens of San Francisco to see what it was like to have a friendly debate that didn’t end up in bloodshed that tore the country apart.
One day, the local police arrested Emperor Norton for vagrancy and lunacy. He kept insisting that he was “The Emperor”, but of course, they thought this was just the ravings of a mad man.
When citizens of San Francisco found out that he was put into the local jail, they were outraged, and demanded that he be released. All of the local newspapers printed stories insisting that they free “His Imperial Majesty”.
When the police realized that not only was he telling the truth about being elected Emperor, but that he was also incredibly popular, they gave him a royal apology. They dropped all charges and set him free. The Chief of Police ordered all of the officers to stand in a line and salute him as he left the jail, and he was greeted by a crowd of screaming and cheering people.
The members of a local Masonic lodge took pity on Norton after this point. They gave him a place to sleep, and he sometimes stayed in boarding houses for 50 cents a night. Local restaurants would hear his speeches, and offer him free food. The State of California gave him a special VIP card that guaranteed he could ride the trains and the San Francisco cable cars for free for the rest of his life. If he wanted to attend a play or an opera, he was given a free seat in the VIP box. Dressed in his full royal regalia, the Emperor could look down like a true king. In his own way, the people actually did begin to accept him as a sort of leader. Artists began to make statues and paintings that were inspired by Emperor Norton.
Many historians say that if it were not for his friendly and intellectual approach to being “Emperor”, he would not have lasted very long. But people truly did love him. He began to take care of two stray dogs who he named Bummer and Lazarus, and they became sort of like like his little sidekicks that followed him around.
Years after he took his oath to lead the US and protect Mexico, one of his dogs, Lazarus, passed away. A huge crowd of people gathered to listen to Emperor Norton give a heartfelt and emotional eulogy for the dog as he explained why he was the greatest canine in the world. The scene was sketched into a political cartoon, and published in the newspaper, where Emperor Norton was dressed like the Pope, and the crowd was hanging on to his every word.