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I love that he hit the officer with the bread and then promptly surrender, demanding $1,000,000,000 in foreign aid. Glorious.

"We seceded where others failed" is an absolute classic.

Back in the late 1990s an acquaintance of mine traveled to Jamaica, and presented his Conch Republic passport to customs. The officer stamped it and welcomed him to the island.

I feel so safe here in the US, knowing that such a stronk and powerful nation is there just off our coast.

Conch Republic sounds like a 4/20 idea that got out of hand in the best way possible

I came across this group at a sailboat show in Groton, CT in 2012. They made me an honorary Lieutenant Commander in their Navy and then said they'd take me on their ship, but then kicked me off for paying tourists. Seriously, no hard feelings. They also salute with their left hand as they always have a drink in their right hand. Long live Republic of Conch!

This is utterly hilarious and heartwarming. Only in Florida, only in Florida.

I literally just got back from the Keys Saturday and was there to celebrate the 1st day of the Conch Republic's Anniversary Week. Crazy that now you post this video! LONG LIVE THE CONCH REPUBLIC!

I'm a Floridian and I was only vaguely aware of the Conch Republic (not from South Florida). This was hilariously informative and probably the most Florida thing I've heard of!

I'm a native Floridian and had no idea about the conch republic. The "we seceded where everyone else failed" shirt is absolutely hilarious 😂😂 thank you for all of the information across all of your channels. Great job to Simon and the entire team.

For once, a story that sounds like it should be satire brings levity rather than frustration. Nice.

Never in my wildest dreams did i think Simon would ever cover this near-forgotten piece of South Florida history!!! My grandfather took the family after independence down from Miami to celebrate and get their passports stamped lol ps. and a special thanks for pronouncing conch correctly :)

I have lived in the Florida Keys for several years now and visited for many more before that. They are truly a “State of Mind.” The Keys are much more than the famous Key West! They stretch for over 100 miles from Key Largo to Mile Marker 0 in Key West! Thank you, Simon for covering this part of our history.

😎 What a treat! My sweetheart and I ran off down to Key West for adventure…and got down just months before the Roadblock. Still have a Conch Republic Flag and Passport…And yes, ultimately the economic impact of the Roadblock forced us to return to Atlanta after only a couple of years…things came back slowly but Damn! What a blast from the past and I was there! Thanks Simon and company!

You should do a video on Rojava (aka The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria), it's an autonomous zone in Syria carved out by the Kurdish militia that defeated ISIS. They've got their own constitution, which includes ethnic and gender equality as a right. It's one of the most peaceful and prosperous areas in the region, but is currently being threatened with invasion from Turkey. Really interesting place that might not last much longer.

Living in Key West for 22 years now, I am considered a "Fresh Water Conch" and hold the rank of Conch Navy Chief Warrant Officer 10 as declared by the "Honorable Reef Perkins and Sir Peter Anderson". I started my 3 year Sabbatical after my Master's Degree on a sailboat and never left the Keys...Sir Peter Anderson passed away in July of 2014 and is always remember at any Couch Republic gathering by hoisting a glass! RIP Peter. Thanks for the mention Simon!

0:55 - Chapter 1 - The 2nd american civil war 7:45 - Mid roll ads 9:05 - Chapter 2 - Secretary of conch 13:20 - Chapter 3 - Viva la republica de la concha (long live to the republic of conch) 17:30 - Chapter 4 - Conch lusion

As a citizen of the conch republic since inception, fine video. Brought back some memories, thanks.

I have the feeling this might go down as one of Simon's all time favorite videos. A micro nation and a metric ton of snark.

We nearly had the Republic of Point Cook in my old suburb here in Melbourne, Australia Had a right laugh chatting with the council member who announced it over a beer

A similar-ish shenanigans occurred in a town local to me... The small town of Kinney, MN had a problem with the city well, and they would have to replace it, but the cost was far more than the town could afford. They applied for federal aid, and were promptly denied. The officer who denied cracked, "It would be easier for you to get foreign aid".... And so they did. Seceding from the union to become the Republic of Kinney. Similar to the Conch republic, this never really was meant to go anywhere, but it generated the publicity and attracted the attention of wealthy individuals and institutions, and they managed to get the money they needed to update their water supply... As well as a police car, and some frozen pizzas... All the small towns up here have their various "xxx Days", usually denoting when there was a fire that leveled the town, or ludicrously big hail... but Kinney has Secession Days. They print up T-Shirts and passports.

I have visited the Keys a couple of times and had a wonderful experience each visit. My favorite story is walking down Duvall Street in Key West and a guy selling handcrafted jewelry stopped me and pointed at my tee shirt. The tee shirt was a local festival advert for a small town celebration on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. The guy asked, How are things in Hoquiam going? My jaw dropped open- he didn’t mispronounce the name of the town. He knew all about my little burg and it’s history. Turns out he grew up in a larger city about 70 miles away and worked at Boeing for 30 years then retired to Key West. To make jewelry, drink and sail. Not a bad retirement plan if you ask me. I hope you are still selling jewelry, Larry from Puyallup. And enjoying adult libations when sailing into the sunset.

Growing up there was one of the greatest experiences ever, the state of mind is true, you grow up so open minded because it's all about just living life and having fun. Decorated many a fantasy fest float for the pier house

I’ve looked into micronations before. How have I never heard of this? Edit: They had freaking fritter bombs. You can’t do better than that. Edit: Now I want to live there. It sounds like a genuinely awesome community.

I've only ever been to two foreign nations, Canada, and The Conch Republic.

Got me a Conch Republic Flag on the wall of my hallway, right across from a US flag. I did live on Key West for a year, taught me some real life lessons. A very interesting place.

Hi Simon!!! I'm from Miami so I know all about this, but to hear you tell the story is so funny, I watch all of your channels 👍

That absolutely brilliant. Sometimes, Floridians' shenanigans are actually wholesome!

I had never heard of this before, but I'm so glad I now know about it. What a great story, and Happy Anniversary to the Conch Republic!

Conch fritters are awesome. Simon needs to visit the Keys and try some.

This sounds like something the guys from Monty Python would write, I'm dying lol

Well Dennis Wardlow had just major balls to stand against Federal government like that. And it paid off.

Conch fritter bombs sounds like the most Key West thing ever, I love it xD I never knew the whole thing started over a roadblock, but that's a totally valid concern down there. I used to live in south FL, and visited the Keys very often, sometimes going all the way to Key West, my mom would take me and we could get down there and back home as a day trip. One night, when we were headed back north on US-1, there was a fire in the dense brush and trees on either side of the road, in a long stretch where the road was one lane, and we were stuck there for 3-4 hours as we waited for officials to clear the way and safely let people through. I had a terrible full-body sunburn and a bad case of sun poisoning with fever and chills at the same time, along with just being exhausted from having been up since 5am, it was miserable and I'll never forget it. Any kind of road block there is a safety hazard for sure, let alone an inconvenience to residents and a detriment to tourism, so I can understand their frustration.

I love a new video from any of Simon's channels.

I know Jimmy Buffett is a huge supporter of the Conch Republic and is a official ambassador to the micro nation! Jimmy Buffett would make a great and interesting Biographics as his followers are fiercely devoted and despite never having huge hits until later in life, his tours are always some of the highest grossing concert tours. He also is a successful entrepreneur as well. His followers are fiercely devoted to the lifestyle of taking it easy!

When my dad passed I inherited a bunch of conch republic paraphernalia. He was friends with many of the locals and got involved in it.

History of the Conch Republic posted on 4/20……. Fantastic

And narrated with all the comedic flair of an Al-Jezeera war story! Absolutely brilliant work once again Simon! :-)

Seceding from the US??? Based.

I think this is the best thing I’ve seen all year. Absolute mad lads

I proudly wear the Conch Republic T-shirt I got in Key West last fall. Such a fun, beautiful, quirky place!

As a micronationalist, these guys were some of the first and best.

All This taught me was that bureaucracy is the surest and most efficient killer of personal freedom that has ever existed

Heard of this from a fiction novel first and the story of the Republic just gets BETTER with this video!!

Living right by the Conch Republic, I love when people talk about this interesting story that not a lot of people know about.

I do say sir, what a fun, and amusing video. It's a beautiful, simple acceptance of others as they are, in the Conch Republic. It's witty and people, from your description, seem to genuinely care about their fellow human. If only the world was more like this.

I've lived in Florida my whole life and that conch fritter is one of the best sounding things I've ever heard

Long live the Conch Republic. It will forever be my home.

Pretty good story especially with your accent Simon!! LOL. You got it almost perfect with a few omissions. If you want some weirdness, go to Key West. The hurricanes have changed the keys a lot but Key West is still weird. The corporate world is invading though. I fly my Conch Republic flag high!

This was brilliant! I live in South Florida but was not aware of the whole story.

Props to Simon for making through nearly the entire video without laughing. Conch knows I sure didn't.

Ah, yes. The days when Florida's weird was actually cute and clever. Long, long ago.

Thank you for producing an episode re Key West & the Conch Republic!

Sometimes you just have to bow to the absurd, this is an utterly hilarious situation they have on the go there, very Pythonesque, just add a Ministry for Silly Walks and they'd be set for life... :D

Ahhh... I love Key West. 2 years I barley remember. Good times... Capt.Bob SV (Sailing Vessel) 27th Chance, Tampa Fl.

This is hilarious to me bc when I visited Miami for the first time, I made it a point to try conch fritters but not bc of the Conch Republic, which I had no idea even existed at the time but bc of a episode of MTV cribs with Trick Daddy. During the episode Trick made homemade conch fritters and they looked delicious so I knew if I ever visited Miami I had to try them. But now knowing that there is a Conch Republic, I have decided to become a staunch supporter. Long Live the Conch Republic!! How this hasn’t became a “American Pie” type comedy movie yet is dam near criminal.

Ah the Republic de la Concha, some say Florida Man’s dad was once a member of their special forces.

Love this story. Light hearted and void of death. Much needed in these times. Thank you for sharing this tale of intrigue.

Grateful for the recipe provided!

Your best video yet! awesome stuff....similar situation played out in Australia called Hutt River.... :-)

Who woulda thought it? I can cackle for 18 minutes straight.😂

This....this needs to be a movie. I dont think I've laughed so hard over a Geographics episode before. Just. Freaking. AWESOME.

Having lived in Key West this is the BEST video about the Conch Republic I've ever seen!!!! Great job Geographics!!!!!

As a member of the Republic your video was done pretty well

This was a particularly good episode

The story of the Conch Republic is about as Florida as it gets. Hitting a Naval Officer with a stale loaf of Cuban bread, a “bombing run” of conch fritters, threatening to leave the country. Everything

A cheeky episode like this was a nice break 😊

Man I wish going to the Conch Republic, I used to go down every weekend when I lived in Homestead

I want to serve in a military that requires you to keep a quart of Margaritas on hand.

I think it was a brilliant idea and a great risk of the mayor Dennis Wardlow back in 1982 to use the media to bring tourism and Key West into the spot light to help the Keys economy.

This is one of the most wholesome and positive video I just heard. Love it.

Only in Florida...I have honestly never heard this story, and given a few of my oddball history teachers I'm honestly surprised that they didn't sneak it in there.

My grandfather was Key West's police chief in the 90s and he actually got Dennis Wardlow arrested for accepting bribes. He called the FBI to investigate corruption in the city government, ultimately resulting in Wardlow's arrest. Wardlow was acquitted but held a grudge, and City Hall was very hostile to my grandfather until his retirement. Nonetheless, the Conch Republic story is hilarious and I will always be entertained by it regardless of the mayor's other actions.

My entire family is from key west it's a great place very friendly and fun to hangout there

I grew up in the Keys and I have to tell you I enjoyed this a lot. Your humor was perfect for the story.

The old classic Bayview boat club in San Francisco waterfront proudly has the flag displayed outside in the smoking section by the Bay. Great video And blessings to you and yours coming at you from the hills of Southern Oregon

Another great video, thank you for putting out so much fantastic content to keep me edutained. I'd like to suggest the Salton Sea in the California desert. The sea stands in the basin where a massive ancient lake once stood, supporting a deep and fascinating native history long before Europeans showed up. The European arrival has an interesting history of its own including a Lost Ship of the Desert legend before the American era which led (by accident) to the recreation of the sea via the Colorado River. Along with a new booming farming economy the Sea also saw speed boat races and aquatic recreation before the pesticides and excessive water table draw stopped the outflow to the Gulf of Mexico allowing the buildup of pesticides and killing near all life in the sea. Dozens of plans to restore the sea have been concocted and abandoned over the years with the latest being to pump water from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico to refill the water while desalinating more to provide fresh water in the drought stricken southwest U.S. and northern Mexico while also accessing the rich lithium deposits deep under the sea. It's relatively unknown outside of the county let alone the world at large but I think there's a lot to draw on for you and your viewers.

I pledge allegiance to the shell 🐚

What a wonderful delivery of the history of this "republic". Well done, Simon!

Tht was an equisit delivery, dead pan British humor. . . "We suceeded where others failed". The word play is very good by the Conch 'fritter' Republic, but Simon's execution. . .priceless

I am SO sorry I missed this! (I lived in Key West for about a year in the mid-seventies) This is hilarious.

I do believe that if a national government threatens a community state, whether intentional or not, and the majority of of citizens vote in favor of secession, then they should indeed have the right to secede or overthrow the government (hopefully in a peaceful, civil, and legal manner through the courts) This is the purpose of the constitution. Unfortunately that will never be the case however because those in charge don’t want to loose their jobs or feeling of being in power, and the federal government is scared of loosing even a tiny source of financial revenue

I needed this in my life, thank you.

Hey stranger!!!! Good to see you as always great video love all your channels when I find them I'm sub but ain't getting notified SMH

I'm a born and raised Floridian and was living in Bradenton Florida at the time and I'm amazed I never heard about this too and just now. Although I do remember when my ex-wife and I visited key West and thre were references to the conch Republic but we didn't know the backstory apparently

Little known history fact as well if the Bombing of Pearl Harbor never had happend there would have been a vote on December 8th 1941 to decide on if the State of Jefferson should be formed. Would have devided California into two states and a good chunk of Oregon as well. But the country was busy making ready for more important matters at the time.

Conch-sulate... conch-clusion.... the conch puns are numerous!

Made it to the keys last summer. Every one should go. They got RUM lol

This is AMAZING. I must become a Conch.

This is most ridiculous thing that I heard but that's U.S federal government. This is even more ludicrous than the Tennessee Battle of Athens, Hint Hint.

I imagine that it went something like this: “they put a roadblock on our road!” “Ok?” “Well let’s secede!!!” “Ok.”

Great Job Simon.

What an amazing little nation right on our doorstep.

Good video 👍

My friend, Scott, is a proud citizen of the Conch Republic. That was a great video. Thanks.

Not often i learn something new on youtube this awesome, sending it to everyone i know

The Florida Keys are fantastic, you would love it Simon!

Leave it to Florida to spawn a nation whose battle for independence is a food fight....

I lived in Key Largo for years, great place to chill. The yearly celebration is a blast.