200 years ago, on February 4, 1818, Joshua Abraham Norton was born in Deptford, now part of modern London. His parents, John Norton and Sarah Norden, were English Jews who had alarmingly similar surnames. Sarah came from a line of great merchants and John was a merchant himself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In the 1820s, the English sent numerous settlers to South Africa in an attempt to colonize. Colonizing, that is, a place where the indigenous people already lived and had lived for thousands of years. In 1846, in his late thirties, Norton lost his mother, Sarah. In 1848 he also lost his father John. That same year, Norton realized it was time for a change. He sailed west, crossing the Pacific and arriving in San Francisco around November 1849. That's a little more or a little less than a year at sea, which I guess sounds interesting at first and gets really old after the third or fourth time that you see it. waking up and thinking "hey, I'm still here". For me, life at sea is like being old in Florida. Like I'm disabled and stuck at home, but at the same time there are hurricanes and tsunamis coming every other day. Norton allegedly inherited $40,000 from his father. Some accounts say he didn't have much money, and perhaps they are true, but when Norton arrived in San Francisco he enjoyed the enormous financial success that many people achieved during the Gold Rush. Many, but not all, let's be clear. The gold rush was not so kind to the other 300,000 people who flocked to California in 1849. Norton is said to have made his fortune in real estate. Well, that and imports. That's one of the reasons the Gold Rush screwed so many people: It was because the state was so damn far west that people came in and had no farms to eat from or, well, anything to buy. So smart people made their money by investing in the import game, bringing stuff in from other states and then jacking up the price because hey, who else are you buying your denim from? So in 1853 Norton was worth a whopping $250,000. For perspective, it's well over $6 million today, which I say because my favorite currency calculator only dates back to the 1910s. Then add to that another 60 full years of inflation. But, that same year, Norton saw an unexpected rice shortage hit the city. Norton literally invested as much money as possible in purchasing local suppliers, trying to corner the market. Then, during the night, two enormous rice barges passed through the Golden Gate. (Not the bridge, just the thing the bridge goes over). The price of rice collapsed and Norton had wasted every penny of his investment. Now let's take this type of failure and add it to Norton's attempt to sue the owner of his investment. He lost not only his remaining money, but also his remaining property. His bankruptcy was almost an exact reconstruction of everyone's defeat at Monopoly. Over the next six years, Norton faded into poverty and obscurity. In 1857 he made a couple of appearances, but those who knew him previously said he had become a completely different person. In 1859, this became evident when Norton appeared in the office of the San Francisco Bulletin, with decrees written for any editor he could find. He was dressed in full military clothing, as well as a large top hat with many feathers attached. He wore a full beard. Norton had made the rounds of several newspapers, but it was the editor of the Bulletin who decided to go along with him. The following edict was published in the San Francisco Bulletin on September 17, 1859: “Upperemptory request and desire of a great majority of these United States, I, Joshua Norton... do declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States and direct the representatives of the several States of the Union assemble in the Musical Hall... there and then to make such changes in the existing laws of the Union as may alleviate the woes facing the country, and thus cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity. Norton I, Emperor of the United States." Now Norton had never shown signs of mental illness either during his career or before. This decree, however, was very sincere. The new Sovereign Emperor of the United States saw much recognition in his city , because it's San Francisco and no one has anything better to do he passed by on the street (still wearing that suit), people sometimes bowed to him The city directory even changed his job title to emperor , as an ironic joke. Soon, the story began to be picked up by all the other newspapers and his antics began to be published in the newspaper. By the next month, Emperor Norton made another statement: "the fraud and corruption prevents a just and correct expression of the public voice". ... in consequence of this, we hereby abolish Congress". The Emperor says no more congress! He argued that the Republican and Democratic parties should both be abolished, because the their divisions had driven a wedge in the country's productivity. A controversial opinion, I'm sure you'll agree. When Norton learned that Congress was still in session, he ordered U.S. General Winfield Scott to march on Washington and clear the halls of Congress. I SAID NO. NO CONGRESS! GO HOME! In addition to this, he declared the governor of Virginia hanged for allowing the hanging of an abolitionist. Now, according to a biographer I read from, these decrees of his were published in several San Francisco newspapers. In fact, some even began making up some of their own decrees, slapping his name on them to sensationalize the stories. This is an argument for why the title "protector of Mexico" was added to his name, but those at the History Channel and San Francisco Chronicle argue that Norton was in complete control of his delusional honorifics. When civil war threatened to tear the country apart, our gentle emperor decided we had our chance, but now it was time to dissolve the union altogether and reformat it as a monarchy, with him on the throne. GOD DAMMIT, THAT'S IT! YOU WILL NOT LEAVE CONGRESS, YOU ARE USING SLAVES - YOU'RE DONE! Meanwhile, when France began its invasion of Mexico during the Sweet Wars, Norton didn't like this. In the spirit of not really helping since he had no army, Norton simply began calling himself the protector of Mexico. Meanwhile, back home, Norton's reputation was only improving. At that point he was essentially the mascot of San Francisco. Which, if I have to throw it out there, I guess I should ask what is their mascot now? The Governor? L Ron Hubbard?? He and his suit became something of a merchandising opportunity, and souvenirs in his honor began to circulate. Photos, drawings and even dolls were made of the emperor! Even local businessmen began to grant him little luxuries, as if every opening night of a theater show had a seat reserved for him. Restaurants would also have seats reserved for him, and he would even receive a free meal if he left his royal seal of approval on the place. Local ferries and trains would also allow him to travel for free. Norton,,.