A.R.A.M.
12-23-2005, 10:41 PM
While not many will care, in a fit of whimsy I thought I'd share a bizarre historical anecdote I came across recently. In the 19th century, a San Francisco man by the name Joshua Abraham Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. While the fat cats in Washington D.C. refused to acknowledge him, numerous heads of state reputedly corresponded with him, including Queen Victoria. Also, San Francisco newspapers published his imperial decrees, businesses accepted his currency, and people paid the taxes he levied on them.
He was also a visionary, decreeing that a bridge be built between Oakland and San Francisco, a League of Nations be established, and plans for airplanes be drawn up. While these three dreams of his eventually came to fruition, his most important decree has unfortunately been consistently flouted by the de facto powers of the United States. In his 8/12/1869 imperial decree, he ordered both the Republican and Democratic parties dissolved in order to allay "the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm." While the current situation in the United States is nowhere as dire as the era in which this decree was promulgated, it is still relevant. The country would probably be better off if the Republican and Democratic parties were abolished.
Norton's legacy lives on. He is, for example, one of the patron saints of a little known religion. But lest we romanticize this figure, it is necessary to remember that prior to his elevation to the purple, Norton was no friend of the Chinese community in San Francisco. One of his schemes was to corner the market on rice so he could gouge the Chinese community. He got his comeuppance when, after spending his small fortune buying up all the rice in the city, two freighters full of rice made an early arrival in San Francisco, thereby breaking his monopoly and his bank account. However, his most famous act as emperor was turning back a lynch mob bent on attacking the some of the city's Chinese residents.
He was also a visionary, decreeing that a bridge be built between Oakland and San Francisco, a League of Nations be established, and plans for airplanes be drawn up. While these three dreams of his eventually came to fruition, his most important decree has unfortunately been consistently flouted by the de facto powers of the United States. In his 8/12/1869 imperial decree, he ordered both the Republican and Democratic parties dissolved in order to allay "the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm." While the current situation in the United States is nowhere as dire as the era in which this decree was promulgated, it is still relevant. The country would probably be better off if the Republican and Democratic parties were abolished.
Norton's legacy lives on. He is, for example, one of the patron saints of a little known religion. But lest we romanticize this figure, it is necessary to remember that prior to his elevation to the purple, Norton was no friend of the Chinese community in San Francisco. One of his schemes was to corner the market on rice so he could gouge the Chinese community. He got his comeuppance when, after spending his small fortune buying up all the rice in the city, two freighters full of rice made an early arrival in San Francisco, thereby breaking his monopoly and his bank account. However, his most famous act as emperor was turning back a lynch mob bent on attacking the some of the city's Chinese residents.