Key West: The Conch Republic?

Factual Questions
1

I was reading a brief history the US, and for Florida, it happened to mention that, in 1982, the government put up a roadblock to prevent entrance to Key West. It said that Key West wanted to secede to form “The Conch Republic”. The details are as slim as that. What was the deal? Why was there a need for a roadblock, and by what government (State or Fed)? Any Floridians care to elaborate?

My friends and myself, politically aware, had never heard of this, so maybe it was a short-lived coup? All we know is that, in history, Florida did secede from the Spain and was known as “The Conch Republic” for a brief period.

This sounds like “The Mouse That Roared”!

“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV

2

The fed roadblock was not to prevent entrance, but to search those leaving for illegal aliens and drugs. The angered residents declared their independence. This explains it:

http://members.aol.com/brooks957/crhist.htm

Great story.

3

there is a similar story (but I do not know the details)in Annapolis, Md, where a part of Annapolis called Eastport and joined (or separated, depending on how you look at it) to Annapolis by a drawbridge declared itself independent as the “maritime Republic of Eastport”
Check out http://www.annapolismag.com/MRE/MREWelcome.html

4

There’s a bunch of Keys residents who want to scale back the tourism. One bumper sticker you see a lot down there is “Save the Keys, Burn the Bridges”

5

In one of his science fiction novels, Joe Haldeman speculated that Key West had seceded and declared itself an independent nation. Unfortunately, I can’t recall which of his novels it was off the top of my head.

6

I recall reading about the Keys in a magazine (Nat’l Geographic? Discover? sorry, the memory fades…) The author commented on the Conch’s penchant for stubborn independence. At one point, he jokes to a native that the Keys ought to secede from the Union. To which the native replies, “Secede? Hell, most of us never really joined in the first place.”

“The dawn of a new era is felt and not measured.” Walter Lord

7

During the 1920s, the Keys were a hotbed of liquor-smuggling activity.

It was impossible for the Feds to police all those thousands of miles of craggy coastline, so little boats loaded with rum went zipping in and out, delivering goodies to all the good little girls and boys of the Southeast.

Part of the outlaw, anti-US Govt mystique of the area. Of course, since Repeal, other things have been moved in and out of those shadowy coves.

Uke

8

This sounds vaguely familiar…something more like a publicity stunt than a coup.

“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV