The Time When the Florida Keys Succeeded from the United States
Key West’s economy is based on tourism. We love sharing our beautiful island with others.
In 1982, the United States Border Control placed a blockade in Florida City blocking U.S. Highway 1. US 1 is the only road in and out of the Florida Keys. They searched cars for illegal drugs and immigrants. Travelers were basically treated like they were entering the United States from a foreign country.
This blockage created a backup of over 17 miles. Naturally, tourists did not want to deal with this and canceled their vacation plans.
Key West’s economy was in peril. Key West’s Mayor Dennis Wardlow did something about it. The injunction to remove the roadblock was denied. The judge in Miami did not have the power to shut down the blockade. Mayor Wardlow announced to reporters that Key West was going to secede the next day and become its own country, the Conch Republic.
The official website of the Conch Republic emphasizes that the secession “should not be viewed as a revolution against the United States of America” and that it was a “protest against the folly of zealotry resulting in the people of the Florida Keys being literally alienated as Americans”.
Mayor Wardlow’s decision created controversy across the island.
A conch named Tony offered to fly his biplane and bomb naval ships in Key West with his homemade conch fitters. The Key West naval base had ships with FBI and Secret Service agents on standby.
Local citizens are referred to as conchs. The pronunciation of conch is “conk” not with the “ch” sound at the end of it.
On April 23rd, 1982, Mayor (now prime minister Wardlow) stated the Conch Republic’s Proclamation of Secession in Mallory Square. Tony’s biplane buzzed overhead and one of the nearby Naval officers got whacked on the top of his head with a stale loaf of Cuban bread.
After one minute, prime minister Wardlow quickly surrendered.
This protest gained global attention and successfully led to the removal of the blockade.
The Conch Republic now is a community who have a “Sovereign State of Mind” and the “People who seceded where others have failed”. The Conch Republic’s values are based around “humor, community and a passion to encourage others to behave in a proud and foolish manner.”