Joshua Norton, the Only United States Emperor

Had to re-upload cause old uncle sam forgot to put in the title promo like a nitwit. Pls dont lynch me

If not for modern media, Trump would be a historical curiosity just like Norton

i had spotify open in the background when i paused the video at 6:06 and when i pressed space bitter sweet symphone by the verve started playing and it took me a solid 20 seconds to figure out it wasn't a joke

Double like

I think George Sliwa should be emperor of New York.

Honestly, the fact that Emperor Norton had the idea for the bridge AND a League of Nations makes me respect him even more!! 👍👍

Back then, American was as dumb as a rock! Oh, I better take that back… Kellie Pickler an American were asked if France is a country in Europe… and response with “I thought Europe was a country”. I rest my case

Funny how the emperor bit has aged

Norton was also an abolitionist and a massive supporter of civil rights for people of other races,when a mob gathered protesting against the influx of Chinese immigrants in the city,he showed up and stopped the whole thing just by praying and singing,he convinced the crowd to disperse without quarrel,he even forbade conflicts between different groups on matters of culture and religion,saying that all men were brothers and should treat each other as such,he was honestly a great guy,if a little touched…

That was the genesis of a long standing tradition of SF weirdos and local legends. I’ve know many over the years

Nothing but respect for MY emperor.

Well time to rewach the videos i dont remember every single line again then wait a month before coming back to watch all sam's videos over again

0:40 this aged well

I wonder if im related to this Joshua guy

Elon Musk aged.. uh.. strangely 😅

peoples' sense of humor has aged a ton and also not at all, apparently

In December of 2025 Sam's redditor roast is more on point than ever. Sam should be declared Emperor of YouTube.

It’s honestly kinda sweet that everywhere you search him he’s referred to as “Emperor Norton” he was remembered as he wished to be, which is something we all could only hope for ourselves. Rest in peace Norton

It’s weird that now on Reddit, criticizing Elon is actually acceptable behavior

Hey

There's a hilarious video game called West of Loathing where the final boss is this guy named Norton who names himself Emperor of "Frisco", the final location in the game. The only way to defeat him is to give him one of the various crowns you can acquire throughout the game, or just beat his ass. Given the whole game is full of meta references, I'm not surprised to learn that Norton was a real guy🤣

this video is from the time period when redditors likes elon musk

Essentially, Norton was a cooler Diogenes.

3:03 I've never stopped to read that
Wtf is that paragraph lmao

Gets and shiggles is the best thing ive ever heard 😂😂❤