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Conch RepublicMicronation
Flag
Motto: "We Seceded Where Others Failed" (also: "The Mitigation of World Tension Through the Exercise of Humor")
Anthem: Working in the Conch Republic
Location in Monroe County and the state of Florida
Status	Integrated into the United States
Capital	Key West 24°33′33″N 81°47′3″W / 24.55917°N 81.78417°W / 24.55917; -81.78417
Official languages	English
Organizational structure	Republic
• Prime Minister	Dennis Wardlow (founder)
• Speaker of the House	Paul Joseph Menta
• Secretary of State	James R. Gilleran
Establishment
• Declared	April 23, 1982
Area claimed
• Total	15.4 km (5.9 sq mi)
Population
• Census	68,071 (est. by adding the total population of all of its claimed land)
Purported currency	Conch dollar (US dollar de facto)
Time zone	(EST) (UTC-5) Summer EDT (UTC-4)

The Conch Republic (/ˈkɒŋk/) is a micronation declared as a sarcastic secession of the city of Key West, Florida, from the United States on April 23, 1982. It has been maintained as a tourism booster for the city. Since then, the term "Conch Republic" has been expanded to refer to "all of the Florida Keys, or, that geographic apportionment of land that falls within the legally defined boundaries of Monroe County, Florida, northward to 'Skeeter's Last Chance Saloon' in Florida City, Dade County, Florida, with Key West as the micronation's capital and all territories north of Key West being referred to as 'The Northern Territories'".

While the protests that sparked the creation of the Conch Republic (and others since then) have been described by some as "tongue-in-cheek", they were motivated by frustrations over genuine concerns. The original protest event was motivated by a U.S. Border Patrol roadblock and checkpoint that greatly inconvenienced residents and tourists.

The Conch Republic celebrates Independence Day every April 23 as part of a week-long festival of activities involving numerous businesses in Key West including local rum distilleries like Chef Distilled. The organization—a "Sovereign State of Mind", seeking only to bring more "humor, warmth and respect" to a world in sore need of all three according to its late secretary general, Peter Anderson—is a key tourism booster for the area.

History

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In 1982, the United States Border Patrol set up a roadblock and inspection point on US 1 just north of the merger of Monroe County Road 905A/Miami-Dade County Road 905A onto US 1 (the only two roads connecting the Florida Keys with the mainland), in front of the Last Chance Saloon just south of Florida City. Vehicles were stopped and searched for narcotics and illegal immigrants.

The Key West City Council complained repeatedly about the inconvenience for travelers to and from Key West, claiming that it hurt the Keys' important tourism industry. Eastern Air Lines, which had a hub at Miami International Airport, saw a window of opportunity when the roadblocks were established; Eastern was at the time the only airline to establish jet service to Key West International Airport, counting on travelers from Key West to Miami preferring to fly rather than to wait for police to search their vehicles.

When the city council's complaints went unanswered by the U.S. federal government and attempts to get an injunction against the roadblock failed in court, as a form of protest Mayor Dennis Wardlow and the council declared Key West's independence on April 23, 1982. In the eyes of the council, since the U.S. federal government had set up the equivalent of a border station as if they were a foreign nation, they might as well become one. As many of the local citizens were referred to as Conchs, the micronation took the name of the Conch Republic.

As part of the protest, Mayor Wardlow was proclaimed prime minister of the republic, which immediately declared war against the United States (symbolically breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a naval uniform), quickly surrendered after one minute (to the man in the uniform), and applied for one billion dollars in foreign aid.

Conch Republic officials were invited to the Summit of the Americas in Miami in 1994, and Conch representatives were officially invited to 1995's Florida Jubilee.

The faux secession and the events surrounding it generated great publicity for the Keys' plight—the roadblock and inspection station were removed soon afterward. It also resulted in the creation of a new avenue of tourism for the Keys.

Annexation of Seven Mile Bridge

On January 13, 2006, Peter Anderson (the defendant in the Dry Tortugas case from 1995 to 1996) purported to annex the abandoned span of Seven Mile Bridge, which had been replaced by a parallel span in 1982. The move was in response to a recent event regarding Cuban refugees. On the previous January 4, fifteen Cuban refugees reached the bridge, but were returned to Cuba by the U.S. Border Patrol because the U.S. government had declared the bridge a "wet feet" location under the wet feet, dry feet policy. The rationale was that, since two sections of the span had been removed and it was no longer connected to land, it was not part of U.S. territory subject to the "dry feet" rule, and thus the refugees could not stay.

Anderson, seizing upon the U.S.'s apparent disavowal of the abandoned span, claimed it for the Republic. He expressed hope to use the bridge for affordable, ecologically friendly housing. In response, Russel Schweiss, spokesman for Florida governor Jeb Bush, declared, "With all due respect to the Conch Republic, the bridge belongs to all the people of Florida, and we're not currently in negotiations to sell it." The refugee decision was later overturned, but only after the refugees had been returned to Cuba.

Recent history

In another protest, beginning in 2008, the northern keys including Key Largo formed a separation of the Conch Republic known as the Independent Northernmost Territories of the Conch Republic. Proponents claim this separation is a result of disagreements over the definition and use of the term "Conch Republic".

As of 2022, the southernmost point buoy mentions the Conch Republic.

Souvenir passports and vehicle registration

Through their website, the republic issues passports as souvenirs, but some have evidently bought them in the mistaken belief they are legitimate travel and identity documents. Shortly after the September 11 attacks, FBI investigators thought that hijacker Mohamed Atta had possibly purchased a Conch Republic passport from the website. International vehicle registration code stickers can also be purchased from vendors in Key West, bearing the initials "KW" and "CR"—the country codes for Kuwait and Costa Rica, respectively.

In literature

Some of the action in Joe Haldeman's 1989 science fiction novel Buying Time (published in UK as The Long Habit of Living) takes place in the Conch Republic, a lawless place where assassination and other activities are perfectly legal.

Science fiction writer Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series—about an Irish bar full of time travellers, aliens and musicians—find themselves relocated to the Conch Republic in the 2000 novel Callahan's Key.

National anthem

In 1994, Joe and Meri-Lynn Britz wrote the national anthem for the Conch Republic, "Conch Republic". It was recorded by the Key Lime Pie band and voted on and accepted by the city of Key West City Commissioners.

See also

• Forgottonia, a secessionist movement in Illinois in the 1970s
• Maritime Republic of Eastport, a secessionist movement in Annapolis, Maryland

References

1. "Florida Keys celebrate 40th anniversary of Conch Republic". Tamp Bay Times. Associated Press. April 16, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
2. "The Official Website of the Conch Republic". Retrieved June 3, 2021.
3. "Fodors Key West Travel Guide". Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
4. "Unlocking Key West". Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
5. Triviaballer. "Key West Trivia". Retrieved December 7, 2006.
6. "A brief history of the Conch Republic" Archived November 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
7. Cruz, Georgina (March 27, 2009). "Around Florida in late April: Conch Republic celebration in Key West plus events in Venic, Daytona, Orlando and St. Augustine". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
8. "Chef Distilled – Key West First Legal Rum Distillery". Stogie Press. February 1, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
9. Reno Gazette-Journal
10. John Ryan, George Dunford & Simon Sellars (2006). Micronations. Lonely Planet Publications. p. 131. ISBN 1-74104-730-7.
11. "Conchs roar to bridge annexation". Associated Press. January 14, 2006.
12. "Insurrection in the Conch Republic". KeysNews.com. December 30, 2008. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008.
13. Babson, Jennifer (October 3, 2001). "Atta May Have Obtained Conch Republic Passport". The Miami Herald. Retrieved November 29, 2006.
14. Shearer, Victoria (2008). It Happened in the Florida Keys. Globe Pequot Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0762740918.

External links

• Official Website of the Conch Republic
• Conch Republic Military Forces website

• Culture of Key West, Florida
• Geography of Florida
• History of Key West, Florida
• Micronations in the United States
• Separatism in the United States
• Secessionist towns and cities
• States and territories established in 1982
• 1982 establishments in Florida