In school
We are always taught about le some of the United States presidents and how compared to Europe
Having an elected nan Keene was such a revolutionary concept for the time and how George Washington
America's first president under the Constitution video on that subject here
Projected becoming a monarchy. However, the u.s. Did have an emperor just a self-proclaimed one
Likely rather loony one in this episode. We'll be looking at America's first emperor Josh Norton
Before he was the Emperor of the United States
Joshua Abraham Norton was just another businessmen who ventured to the West to make his fortune born in Britain around
1819 he spent his youth in South Africa before migrating to San Francisco during the 18-49 Gold Rush
Norman dove into the real estate business and by the early 1850s had turned his original
$40,000 into a quarter million dollar fortune
But like so many gold rush era speculators
Neroon's greed eventually got the better of him China had a severe famine in 1852 and stopped all exports of rice
This caused the rice prices to skyrocket in San Francisco to 30 cents a pound which is over $9 in modern day
he devised a scheme to conquer the San Francisco market buying 25 thousand pounds of rice from Peru for
$750,000 had things gone to plan
Joshua stood to make a very handsome profit indeed but the next day and then over the next two weeks
several more shipments of rice arrived from Peru all
Superior quality to what Norn men bought the price of rice had plummeted three cents a pound with him losing hundreds of thousands of dollars
He spent a year fighting in the courts against the vendor
Which only cost him more money and caused him to lose his real estate business
He declared bankruptcy in 1858 after losing it all and drinking a bottle of I don't give a fuck
Noren declared himself emperor of the United States
Sending decreased to local newspapers
proclaiming himself as such
The San Franciscan bulletin printed Norns Proclamation as a joke yet the yokels kind of played to his degree
Noren was very much like the friendly town drunk or homeless individual as
People and businesses took a heavy liking to him and his regular decrees and speeches
Following his declaration as Emperor Norton issued decrees abolishing the US Congress staying that fraud and corruption
Prevented the fair representation of the people which he was kind of correct about and a few months later
Chewed another decree for the army to overthrow
Congress neither of these nor many of his decrees given much of notice by the army or the US government
especially with the civil war brewing
Norns spent his days inspecting San Fransisco streets in an elaborate blue uniform with gold-plated
Opulence he also wore a beaver hat decorated with a peacock feather and a rosette
During his inspections
He would examine the condition of the sidewalks and cable colors the state of the repair public property and the appearance of police officers
He would also
Frequently give lengthy philosophical expositions on a variety of topics to anyone within earshot
Many businesses will that darn essentially used their service for free with them simply requesting that an official endorsement?
Of sorts was granted to the business as they would heavily improve the attraction of locals to the location
He also issued his own money in the form of scripts which were accepted from him by restaurants in San Francisco
These notes are rather rare and are very sought after by collectors in modern-day
the US census of
1870 listen Norton's residences common Street and his occupation as Emperor with a side note that he was insane On
January the 8th of 1880 norton collapsing from the old st
Mary's Cathedral while on his way to a lecture dying almost instantly from a stroke
He died very much poor with only six dollars on his person and limit artifacts and his residence
Initial funeral arrangements were for a coffin a simple redwood
however, the city paid for the rosewood casket and enraged a dignified farewell with over 10,000 citizens attending he was
Buried in the Masonic cemetery again at the expense of the city. I
Hope you enjoyed a brief look into one of the more quirky
aspects that have happened throughout history
If you have a topic that you would like me to cover in a future video say so down in the comments below
Don't forget to like to subscribe and I'll catch you guys next time