MEDIATION MIGHT HAVE CHANGED HISTORY

As July 4, 2026 approaches it is appropriate to review the use of mediation during the American Revolution.

While European powers did attempt to act as neutral mediators. France and Spain attempted to intervene by presenting Britain with an ultimatum to negotiate. When Britain refused to negotiate with the colonies as an equal, France and Spain became allies to the colonies as a result.

To protect neutral shipping from the British blockades, Russia and Austria proposed a ceasefire between Britain and the colonies. Again, Britain rejected the proposal, refusing to acknowledge the colonies as an independent sovereignty. The colonies rejected attempts at mediation, fearing it might result in partition of the colonies and an unwillingness to accept anything except full independence.

As was true then, it is true now, that mediation will not be productive until the parties involved are ready to settle and willing to consider creative solutions. Would there be a United States had Britain and the colonies agreed to mediate? Of course no one knows, but neither does anyone know what creative solutions might have developed using mediation without the cost of war.

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Fred Jandt is the author of “How to Survive a Mediation,” available now at Barnes & Noble and wherever books are sold.