CHECK OUT BRILLIANT: brilliant.org/austinmcconnell In the mid 1800s, a vagrant declared himself Emperor of The United States - and everybody just sort of went along with it. PATREON: / austinmcconnell Edited by me and Lance Little
Next time Democrats give me shit for not falling behind Biden I'm going to say, "how can I vote for you when both the Democratic and the Republican Party were abolished?"
@@OnionYeeter Haha no. Not liking the Republican or Democratic parties is not the same as being libertarian. I just want good evidence-based policies created by informed experts instead of by party-loyalist idiots.
"The self-declared Emperor began strolling through the streets of San Francisco, inspecting the conditions of the sidewalks and the cable cars, public buildings, and even ensuring that police officers were making regular public patrols to keep the city safe." The Emperor Protects.
Darin Conard there is a story where he wrote grant a letter, telling him to run the day to day operations of the country. Grant wrote him thanking him for the honor.
You know, it's quite amusing. 'Emperor' Norton was by no means an official ruler of the United States, but if nothing else, he should always be remembered as a king of San Francisco. Or at least some kind of nobility. He created a position for himself and managed to sustain a form of authority there. It's an unconventional method for one to attain power but one can't deny he had it.
Honestly someone needs to snap this up. I’d love to see Netflix snag Austin for an actual series production of ‘really weird’. Would have a ton of longevity and popularity if Vox’s ‘explained’ series are anything to go off of.
The word meme is actually thousands of years old, and yes, He literally was a meme. Memes are not a modern thing, they are the ideas of the general public, trends, the public makes them, and yet they control the public. Memes are the DNA of the soul And a living meme can be very powerful (Norton, Trump, Caesar...)
Neo2266 The word meme isn't thousands of years old; it's exactly 42 years old. The concept it describes may have existed for thousands of years, but that's not the same thing as saying that the word has.
"I've met a lot of kings, and emperors and heads of state in my time, Joshua. I've met them all. And you know something? I think I liked you best." -Death from The Sandman
I love local celebrities like this. We have one in Sydney, he's this really old asian man with a long hair and beard who stands on street corners smiling and wearing signs telling people to be happy. He's known as Smile Guy. Proudly voted for him to be in the Senate.
There's a city in Texas where, for the last 20 years, a robed man has spent his days in the middle of a pedestrian bridge across the highway. Holding two staffs aloft, he silently blesses the traffic that flows beneath him. He's getting old now, but I hear he's found a disciple.
"Mister Norton has shed no blood, robbed no one, and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line." Long live Emperor Norton
We have a similar guy in my home town, he walks around the streets wearing a colourful sombrero and a matching suit to boot. Every time I see him he wears a different colour, pink, yellow, green, black, red, the list goes on. He’s been around for as long as I can remember, as a child I can recall my school bus driver stoping the bus to give him a lift across town, I couldn’t count how many times I’ve waved in his direction. He’s a friendly chap, I’ve talked with him once or twice, he says his name’s Shanty, that’s what we call him atleast. He’s a local celebrity at this point, I’ve seen him in the papers, I’ve always wondered what his story is.
Here's the thing. Emperor Norton had more legitimacy as a ruler than many, many kings and emperors throughout history. Possibly most. In the end, for all of human history people who have ruled over others only did so because others acknowledged their right to do so. But much of the time, this acknowledgment only came from other people in power, or came out of fear of a military. Emperor Norton actually enjoyed popular support, even on a local scale to the extent that businesses, cultural establishments and the friggin' POLICE bent to what he wanted. He had more of a claim to his title, ethically, than most people in actual positions of power. Plus, insane as he may have been, he was an actual thoughtful, considerate and benevolent ruler. Again, better than most. Sure, he didn't actually RULE the US or even San Francisco, but he counts as a ruler of a sort of mini-nation of his "subjects", and I'm only half-joking here.
You know what I've literally JUST realized...that G from Street Fighter (who proclaims himself the President of Earth despite no authority backing him), whose win quotes are generally considered some of the most polite and helpful out of all the cast, is based on this dude...someone at Capcom actually did some deep level research.
"Even a man with self-appointed power can have that power if all others are willing to give it to him" is powerful and proof that Austin McConnel is modern-day aristotle
There was a similar man in pre-WWI Germany, though not on such a large scale. His name was Wilhelm Voigt and he pretended to be a Prussian military officer with the various military clothing he purchased from different stores. He actually commanded a number of soldiers and stole around 4,000 marks. He was imprisoned at first but the general public was on his side so he was pardoned by the Kaiser (Wilhelm II) . He actually went on some tours around Germany and Canada (he wasn't able to in the US because they denied him a visa), and got a wax figure at Madame Tussaud's. The famous German playwright Carl Zuckmayer wrote a play on him in the 1930s that has been adapted into a film three or four different times.
@Tiwaking Tiwaking than "bone spurred" coward would never have the balls to put himself between a mob and innocents. Heck if anything he would be rallying the mob.
For people about to say he copied Sam o Nella, just because they both covered it doesn’t make it a copy. Both are great videos. While Sam’s video was great, Austin is much more detailed.
rdubby Exactly! Sam definitely focuses more on comedy and summarizing, but Austin tends to go in depth. When he finds an interesting string of facts, he chases it.
HE MADE IT ILLEGAL TO CALL SAN FRANCISCO "FRISCO" I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT DUMB NICK NAME WAS AROUND BACK THEN, HE'S THE ULTIMATE MADLAD (us SF people HATE that people who say "frisco" it's hilarious that our hatred has such a deep origin and legal backing hahaha)
from memory, in psych super-sanity can literally be considered insanity. the joker from the dc comics is under this iirc, but there are a few others irl that fit the bill.
For all those insisting Austin "copied" Sam, I encourage you to go to the book store and look up any historical topic. You'll see dozens of authors writing books about the exact same subject! What is this? Copycats? No, its how History works. Many people doing investigations and presentations to get many different points of view. You can't copycat Historical reviews, otherwise us historians are all out of a job, since everything's been mostly covered by someone else already.
Although, if you watch both videos, some of the things they say are exactly the same. This video didn't add much to Sam's but if you haven't, then just watch both
@@colinplante8980 actually Austin added much more detail, dramatic effect, personal touches, accurate history, information, and his is just altogether more refined that Sam's is. Watch Austin's first then watch Sam's and pin the information Sam missed.
Fun fact: the game “West of Loathing” has a location called ‘Frisco’, and upon entering the town, a man named Norton fights your player, calling himself “Emperor Norton”. Hilarious, random reference that makes the game much more fun to play.
An old crazy man, stood between an angry mob and a small group of demonized innocents. Can we just acknowledge how amazing this is? Especially for back then?
GOD PROTECT EMPEROR NORTON I, ELECTED BY HIS HOLY GRACE TO RULE THESE HERE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND PROTECTOR OF MEXICO. MAY HIS RULE LAST LONG AND MAY THESE NATIONS PROSPER
To be real, yes, he probably was mentally ill in some way. But can we just appreciate how unbelievably wholesome it is, that all these official entities and the public gave him the life he wanted and granted his dreamworld into excistence instead of putting him away? He made the world better for the people around him.
Shout out to everyone who saw Sam's video about this subject, and didn't call this one a copy simply because it covers the same topic. P.S. Great video Austin, I think you did great covering this topic in a detailed manner. I look forward to more Really Weird History
Man this got me feeling all kinds of sadness 😢 a man be it insane or not went above and beyond to make San Francisco a better place for everyone, the amount of people at his funeral proves how loved and respected he was! Thank you for sharing your video
Nope. That'd be Fresno, Modesto or Stockton. Basically anywhere in in the in the San joaquin Valley. It's hot, flat, full of tweakers and crazy people.
This makes me kinda sad; whether he was mad or not, he made a lot of people happy and made a big difference. I’m glad that people could recognize that in the end.
Emperor Norton is one of my favorite historical figures. I first ran into him in Paradox Press' lovely collection The Big Book of Weirdoes and then fell in love with his myth thanks to Neil Gaiman's Sandman story "Three Septembers And A January". Thanks for filling in more details!
Guys Austin probably researched this at the same time as Sam. This video is much more detailed and Austin’s vids come out at a far longer rate than Sam’s
Look ... he has a reputation of getting things wrong and even just taking whole lines from other sources so this didnt surprise me. Just enjoy the info i guess
We had two guys similar to Emperor Norton in my home town growing up. Bruce and Kelly, Bruce had been in a car accident a ways back and lost a lot fine motor control and the ability to speak more than a few words. But he walked around town, attended almost every home sporting event and never hesitated to tell off the local hooligans whenever they were being hooligans. He occasionally would ask for help when walking across the street but other than that he was reasonably self sufficient. Kelly was a nosy, loud fat asshole who everyone tolerated because he was definetly on the spectrum. But he did a good job in logging town history though. He was like our local historian. Anyways. It seems like every town has that one or two beloved eccentric character.
This is the equivalent of when a pro wrestler returns from injury with a very odd gimmick, but somehow gets super over. P.S I am now officially the Lord of Canada. I'll be sworn in on the 32nd of Octembuary.
"Founded in 1977 by two Portland, OR, teenagers as the Grand Republic of Vuldstein, the Republic of Molossia... for a time functioned as a 'nomadic country' that traveled in Europe, but has since put down roots in Northern California and Nevada. The republic has also garnered respect from other micronations, and in 2000 hosted the Intermicronational Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the Republic of Molossia is at war with East Germany, which they say still exists" - Mental Floss
I’ve watched this video 2-3 times since it’s been out (Austin’s videos are great to have in the background while I work, cook or write) so I’m familiar with this pretty well now. That’s why it shocked me so much when I open my new copy of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and find a short story about this dude Norton. (It’s called Three September’s and a January and it’s GREAT). It made me appreciate the story a lot more because of this video. Good stuff and good work, Austin.
Thanks, man. It's been a slog this past month, but I'm getting better about handling the workload. I might scale back in September to give myself a break.
As people are continuously talking about Sam O'Nella and debating on who knows what, I would like to point out this is in depth and more heartfelt piece than Sam's. If you're looking for a no emotion attached comedic TL;DR, watch Sam's video plain and simple. This is a deep dive on a person of history with a sympathetic backing. It's still not the deepest dive, but Austin goes decently in depth about a man not much is known about. I greatly appreciate and enjoyed both videos. I personally loved to see the other more sympathetic view a person could give towards Norton. In my opinion, watch both. They both guide you down a story in very different lights to help you collect your feelings without having to delve into your own research.
I love both videos. Sam's great, and I've been a fan for quite a bit now. Your opinion on which video is more likable is just chucked up to what you enjoy. If you like one more than the other or the other not at all, so be it. I can't help that's just your preference. Austin's video is more fitting to my liking. I love both videos, and I love both creators, but they are tailored for two different audiences (not really in an overall sense, but for this series the target audience is definitely different). That was my point. Neither video is better. Both had an effort, both were more than well put together, and the differences in the outlook and overall feel make them barely comparable in my opinion. You can compare them all you want, but it's kind of a waste of time.
For a fantastic personal and slightly supernatural re-telling of this story, I have to recommend the Sandman one-shot written by Neil Gaiman titled "Three Septembers and a January". It's not as informative as this video, but it's a very well-told story.
