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Joshua A. Norton

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Maharaja Norton
Norton I, Maharaja Amerika Syarikat, tarikh fotograf tidak diketahui
Kelahiran
Joshua Abraham Norton

sekitar 1818
London atau bahagian lain di England[1]
Meninggal dunia8 Januari 1880(1880-01-08) (umur 61–62)
Tahun aktif1859–80
Terkenal keranaMengistiharkan diri beliau sebagai "Maharaja Amerika Syarikat"
Ibu bapaJohn Norton
Sarah Norden

Joshua Abraham Norton (c.1818[2] – 8 Januari, 1880), juga dikenali sebagai Maharaja Norton, merupakan warganegara San Francisco, California, yang mana pada tahun 1859 telah mengistiharkan diri beliau "Norton I, Maharaja Amerika Syarikat"[3] dan seterusnya "Pelindung Mexico".[4]

Norton dilahirkan di England yang menghabiskan usia awal beliau di Afrika Selatan. Selepas kematian ibu beliau pada tahun 1846 dan bapa beliau pada tahun 1848, beliau berpindah ke San Francisco dengan harta pusaka daripada estet bapa beliau, tiba pada bulan November 1849 dengan kapal Hamburg Franzeska bersama dengan wang $40,000 (bersamaan dengan AS$1.1 juta pada tahun 2015).[5] Asalnya, Norton menjadi seorang usahawan tetapi hilang kekayaan dalam pelaburan beras di Peru.[6]

Selepas kalah dalam tindakan undang-undang untuk mengesahkan kontrak beras beliau, penguasaan Norton di khalayak mula merosot. Beliau muncul semula pada September 1859, dengan menuntut kedudukan sebagai Maharaja Amerika Syarikat.[7] Meskipun beliau tidak mempunyai kuasa politik, dan beliau menjadi bahan jenaka oleh orang-orang di sekeliling beliau, akan tetapi beliau menerima layanan berbeza di San Francisco, dan matawang dikeluarkan di atas nama beliau.

Walaupun sesetengah orang menganggao beliau gila,[8] penduduk San Francisco merayakan kehadiran dan pengistiharan beliau, seperti arahan beliau agar Kongres Amerika Syarikat dibubarkan dengan paksaan dan beberapa dekri yang menuntut sebuah jambatan yang menghubungkan San Francisco dengan Oakland, dan sebuah terowong ddibina di bawah Teluk San Francisco. Struktur-struktur serupa dibina selepas kematian beliau seperti Jambatan Teluk San Francisco–Oakland dan Tiub Transbay,[9] dan terdapat beberapa kempen untuk menamakan semula jambatan ini seebagai "Jambatan Maharaja Norton".

Pada 8 Januari, 1880, Norton jatuh di sudut jalan di California dan Dupont (kini Grant) dan meninggal dunia sebelum sempat menerima rawatan perubatan. Di majlis pengebumian beliau dua hari kemudian, hampir30,000 orang memenuhi jalan-jalan di San Francisco untuk memberi penghormatan terakhir.[10]

Lihat juga

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  1. ^ Most sources agree that England was his birthplace, and several pinpoint the exact location to the town of Deptford, Kent, which is in present-day London.
  2. ^ There are a number of different claims regarding Norton's date of birth. Norton's obituary by the San Francisco Chronicle put him at 65 years old at the time of his death, which would suggest that he was born in 1814. But William Drury notes in his 1986 biography, Norton I: Emperor of the United States, that the Chronicle's report − a reference to the inscription mounted to Norton's casket − was based on a guess by his landlady. Many sources follow Robert Ernest Cowan's 1923 account and Norton's 1934 tombstone in pinpointing Norton's birth as being sometime in 1819; Cowan specified February 4, 1819. But later biographers − Allen Stanley Lane, in his 1939 biography, Emperor Norton: The Mad Monarch of America, and Drury − settle on 1818. Drury cites South African immigration records in which Norton's father, John, said that Norton was two years old when the family arrived South Africa on May 2, 1820. These records would put Norton's birth somewhere between mid 1817 and early 1818. In December 2014, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign reported on the rediscovery of an item in the February 4, 1865 issue of The Daily Alta California points to a birth date of February 4, 1818. The Campaign also showed that, in his 1923 account, Cowan doctored the original text of the Alta item to back his claim of February 4, 1819.
  3. ^ Smith, Fred (Januari 31, 2002). "Emperor Joshua Norton I of America". BBC. Dicapai pada April 15, 2007.
  4. ^ Hansen, Gladys (1995). San Francisco Almanac. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-0841-6.
  5. ^ William Drury, Norton I: Emperor of the United States (Dodd, Mead, 1986), pp. 24-26.
  6. ^ Carr, Patricia E. (Julai 1975). "Emperor Norton I: The benevolent dictator beloved and honored by San Franciscans to this day". American History Illustrated. 10: 14–20.
  7. ^ Weeks, David; James, Jamie (1996). Eccentrics: A Study of Sanity and Strangeness. New York: Kodansha Globe. m/s. 3–4. ISBN 1-56836-156-4.
  8. ^ "New Perspectives on the West: Joshua Abraham Norton". PBS. 2001. Dicapai pada April 24, 2007.
  9. ^ Herel, Suzanne (Disember 15, 2004). "Emperor Norton's name may yet span the bay". The San Francisco Chronicle. Dicapai pada April 17, 2007.
  10. ^ Moylan, Peter. "Encyclopedia of San Francisco: Emperor Norton". San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. Diarkibkan daripada yang asal pada Februari 23, 2007. Dicapai pada April 17, 2007.
  • Caufield, Catherine (1981). The Emperor of the United States and other magnificent British eccentrics. Routledge and Kegan Paul. m/s. 150–152. ISBN 0-7100-0957-7.
  • Cech, John (1997). A rush of dreamers : being the remarkable story of Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. New York: Marlowe. ISBN 1-56924-775-7.
  • Cowan, Robert Ernest. "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico (Joshua A. Norton, 1819–1880)" in Quarterly of the California Historical Society. San Francisco: California Historical Society, October 1923.
  • Cowan, Robert E., et al. The Forgotten Characters of Old San Francisco. Los Angeles: The Ward Ritchie Press, 1964.
  • Dressler, Albert (1927). Emperor Norton, life and experiences of a notable character in San Francisco, 1849–1880. San Francisco: A. Dressler. LC CT275.N75 D7.
  • Drury, William (1986). Norton I, Emperor of the United States. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-396-08509-1.
  • Kramer, William M. (1974). Emperor Norton of San Francisco : a look at the life and death and strange burials of the most famous eccentric of gold rush California. Santa Monica, California: Norton B. Stern. ASIN B0006CF3KO.
  • Lane, Allen Stanley (1939). Emperor Norton, Mad Monarch of America. Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton printers, Ltd. ASIN B00086ATPC.
  • Ryder, David Warren (1939). San Francisco's Emperor Norton. San Francisco: Alex. Dulfer Printing and Lithographing Co. LC CT275.N75 R9.

Pautan luar

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