When Key West Left The US To Become The Conch Republic

Today in 1982, Key West, Florida decided it was time to do its own thing, by declaring independence from the United States and forming its own country.

Now this has not always been a terribly serious endeavor, but the idea did come out of a serious concern.

The US Border Patrol had set up a checkpoint thirty miles north of Key West.

This was the early 1980s, so the government said it was trying to stop drug runners and also apprehend any Cubans who were trying to flee to the United States.

They essentially made everyone go through customs to get to or from south Florida.

Everyone who passed through needed to show that they were either citizens or were authorized to be in the country.

The checkpoint was along the only highway in or out of the Florida Keys, and because customs is a process that takes as long as it takes, there were huge traffic jams, cars sometimes backing up for miles.

Businesses that served tourists in the Keys said they were losing reservations because travelers didn’t want all the hassle, and tourism is a big industry in the area.

So, after a court challenge to the checkpoint failed, some locals hatched a Plan B.

They said, if the US is going to treat us like a foreign country, why not actually become one?

At noon on April 23, Mayor Dennis Wardlow declared the independence of the Conch Republic from the US.

In doing so, he became Prime Minister, and immediately used his vast power to declare war on the United States, breaking a piece of stale Cuban bread over the head of a guy in a naval uniform.

Wardlow then surrendered to the US, bringing to an end what became known as the One Minute War, and he asked for a billion dollars in foreign aid from the US to make up for all the lost tourism money.

Key West didn’t get the money, but they did get something they wanted even more: the US removed the checkpoint (though government officials at the time did point out that if the Conch Republic had actually seceded, they would’ve had a permanent border station).

Today the Republic itself draws tourists to south Florida; you can buy flags, shirts, hats and even passports, some of which have Conch-approved slogans like “Sovereign state of mind” and “People who seceded where others have failed.”