Emperor Norton Was More Interested in National Unity Than in "State's Rights"
Discovery of an 1864 Proclamation
EMPEROR NORTON always was about the big picture.
In his Proclamation declaring himself Emperor — published in the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin of 17 September 1859 — Joshua Norton wrote:
I…do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble in Musical Hall, of this city, on the 1st day of February next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity.
The meeting that the new Emperor later dubbed a “National Convention” — rescheduled for 8 February 1860 — never took place. But, on the 4th preceding — which, as it happens, was the Emperor’s 42nd birthday — the Bulletin did him the courtesy of publishing in full his prepared remarks.
In his planned address, Emperor Norton elaborated his view that a major obstacle to national unity and progress was competing statement governments. He writes, in part [emphasis mine]:
It is also maintained, and with a great deal of truth, that such a great number of States cannot hold together under a National Congress with such a diversity of nationality and interest as exists in the United States under the existing National Constitution, and 33 State Constitutions clashing against each other; and that a dissolution is inevitably necessary, under any circumstances. Take, for instance, the General Revenue Laws. That which would be good and beneficial on the Atlantic side, is injurious and unjust to the States of the Pacific. Laws relating to Immigration which would be beneficial to the States on the Pacific, would be injurious to the Foreign relations of the States on the Atlantic. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, and the Internal dissensions on Slavery and other questions, We are certain that nothing will save the nation from utter ruin and falling to pieces, except an absolute Monarchy, under the supervision and authority of an Independent Emperor and Supreme Council….
Some fourteen years later, in December 1873, the Emperor was in Sacramento pressing the point. The Sacramento Daily Bee took note of the Emperor’s visit by calling him “the representative of Caesarism on this slope.”
Notice of Emperor Norton’s arrival in Sacramento. Sacramento Daily Bee, 11 December 1873, p. 3. Source: Newspapers.com
In the same issue, the Bee published the following editorial, “He Is Here,” that goes to the substance of the Emperor’s visit:
Editorial on Emperor Norton’s visit to Sacramento, Sacramento Daily Bee, 11 December 1873, p. 2. Source: Newspapers.com
Emperor Norton…came here last night all the way from San Francisco for the sole purpose of laying his views of the science of government before the Legislature and asking for favorable action thereon. His theory, as he will explain it to members, is to abolish State lines and State Governments, and blend the people of this Union into one harmonious whole....
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WHILE ON ANOTHER visit to Sacramento, some 10 years earlier, Emperor Norton gave a preview of his thinking on this subject — his theory of government, if you will — in a Proclamation issued on 6 January 1864 and published in the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin three days later as part of the Bulletin’s “Letter from Sacramento.”
We’ve not seen this Proclamation mentioned elsewhere and believe that — with this publication — it may be seeing the light of day for the first time in many generations:
Proclamation of Emperor Norton, 6 January 1864, published in “Letter from Sacramento,” San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, 9 January 1864, p. 1. Source: Genealogy Bank
Conceiving that the nation is drifting toward absolutism, and being desirous of preserving the Constitution, and if possible, perpetuating the vote of the American citizen; Now, therefore, do we hereby command the State Legislatures of all the States of the Union to take such measures as may be necessary to merge the State and Federal Constitutions into one, thereby consolidating the same, making therefrom one instead of a number of Governments.
If the Sacramento Bee’s characterization of Emperor Norton’s views at the end of 1873 is accurate, then — arguably…
Between (a) the publication of his Proclamation of January 1864 — coinciding with the approach to the end of the third year of the Civil War — and (b) his Sacramento visit of December 1873…
The Emperor’s belief in the power of a strong national government to produce strong national unity — to the point of making state government, and states themselves, irrelevant — was being distilled to a higher and higher proof.
Exactly what we should expect from a monarch — is it not?
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