INAUGURAL INDUCTION CLASS (2021)

Born Joshua Abraham Norton in modern-day London in 1818, the future self-proclaimed Emperor grew up in South Africa after his parents settled there in 1820. Most accounts place him arriving in San Francisco in the year 1849 with a modest sum in hand, inherited by his father’s recent death. By 1852, Norton had become one of the more successful figures in the city, having built himself up into the modern-day equivalent of a multi-millionaire in the real estate and commodities markets. At the end of that year, Norton lost nearly everything in a rice deal, eventually filing for bankruptcy.

In 1859, Norton saw a fractured and dividing United States as it headed towards what would become known at the American Civil War. On 17 September of that year, he distributed letters to local newspapers declaring himself the Emperor of the United States. Soon afterward, he also declared himself as Protector of Mexico.

Thereafter, Emperor Norton could be found “inspecting” the streets of San Francisco in an elaborate and modified US Army officer’s uniform, with a custom hat often described as being composed of beaver skin and peacock feathers. The Emperor also became something of a local celebrity, with local policeman saluting him on the streets. A number of area restaurants accepted his self-printed scrip, citing that it was a “pleasure and honor” to feed him. Once, upon being arrested by a private security officer, an attempt was made to have the Emperor committed to an asylum. Public outcry led to San Francisco’s Chief of Police ordering his release, and the city even replaced his shabby original uniform with a new, regal one.

While Emperor Norton often made whimsical proclamations, such as the time he outlawed the use of the city’s nickname Frisco, his impact was more than that of a local oddity. He also engaged in visionary and humanitarian efforts. The Emperor advocated for the formation of a League of Nations type organization more than 45 years before it came to pass and pushed for the building of a bridge to connect San Francisco with Oakland roughly 60 years before such a project would break ground.

Emperor Norton was also a man of untimely egalitarian principles. Several of his proclamations were focused on religious and racial tolerance, and he was known to enthusiastically greet and welcome groups of people who many others treated as inferiors, such as those of African and Asian descent. One eyewitness account even alleges that the Emperor once placed himself between an angry mob and their target, a group of Chinese, repeating the Lord’s Prayer until said mob dispersed.

Emperor Norton died in 1880, with a funeral procession that drew more than 10,000 people. While Emperor Norton may not have been a micronationalist in the strictest sense, his legacy has impacted the culture and influenced the approaches of several prominent micronationalists. He is regarded by many as a forefather to the movement, and is an unofficial patron saint of micronations.