Conch Republic and oral history
Who has heard of the Conch Republic? Who knows of the late night strategy sessions and special operations conducted during this successionary revolt in the Florida Keys? Its all part of the oral history of the Keys- and many of the stories have not been written down and have been lost and disbursed as founding citizens of the Conch Republic lapse into their old ages. Books have been written and offer fascinating glimpses of this independent state's founding and destruction. BUT not everything has been written down and what has been written down only 10% has been published. It's very hard to prove what happened happened except for vague news reports. Apparently the citizens of South Florida declared themselves independent to escape police brutality, illegal searches, and loss of civil rights conducted by federal authorities. Finally the US government put down the rebellion by cutting off fresh water supplies to the rebels until they surrendered. But nobody really cared what happened in rural Florida. Did you ever hear of this?
SO WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT GASPARILLA'S REPUBLIC WENT UNREMARKED IN A SIMILAR WAY? The authorities killed pirates and did not interview and lionize them. Pirates were an evil curse that had to be destroyed, so governments sent forces and hunted pirates and tortured them and killed them and harried them to their deaths. The coast of Florida was totally undeveloped at the time with a few settlements providing chandler supplies such as tar and turpentine, ropes and dry goods, rum and fruits. There were no port records or revenue cutters or written records- what are the chances that some survived for centuries unpreserved? During Florida history several times whole populations had to move due to changes in national ownership, Indian wars, and epidemics- so thinking that there would be written records about a culture that had few literate members and mostly lived in agrarian poverty is unrealistic. The very fact that Gasparilla's legend survives to this day in Cuba, Mexico, and Florida is enough prove that Gasparilla lived and died. Any historian that concludes that Gasparilla is a baseless myth assumes too much and risks looking the fool when the treasure is unearthed. On with the hunt!