February 27, 1782, when the British House of Commons voted to end offensive war against the American colonies, a decision that effectively recognized U.S. independence and set the stage for peace negotiations. Eighteen months later this de facto recognition would become formal with the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. This gap between an agreement and a formal treaty is not unusual but the agreement and the treaty are often very different.

The Armistice that ended WW II was followed 8 months later by the Treaty of Versailles that the US did not sign. Vashon has some similar events like when the Vashon Bridge was approved in the early 1950s but then dropped without a formal vote a decade later. In addition, the formation of the Community Council in 1964 and the formal recognition in the 1990s, and then the withdrawal of recognition and ultimate dissolution of the Council in 2011, only to be reborn a decade later, follows a similar pattern.