Editing Round-robin (document)

{{For|the letter that traditionally accompanies a Christmas card|Round-robin letter}}
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'''Round-robin''' is a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/round%20robin|title=round robin &#124; Etymology of phrase round robin by etymonline|website=www.etymonline.com|accessdate=March 3, 2024}}</ref>

==Origin==
[[File:Round Robin image.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jessé de Forest]]'s Round Robin from 1621]]
The term dates from the 17th-century [[French language|French]] ''Rond ruban'' (''round [[ribbon]]''). This described the practice of signatories to petitions against authority (usually Government officials petitioning the [[The Crown|Crown]]) appending their names on a document in a non-hierarchical circle or ribbon pattern (and so disguising the order in which they have signed) so that none may be identified as a ringleader.<ref name="Bartleby">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/authors/|title=Authors|website=Collection at Bartleby.com|accessdate=March 3, 2024}}</ref><ref name="OED">[https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/15/messages/643.html Re: Round Robin], Oxford English Dictionary cited at The Phrase Finder, September 29, 2002</ref>

This practice was adopted by sailors petitioning officers in the [[Royal Navy]] (first recorded 1731).<ref name="OED" />
[[File:Sailor’s Round Robin SP16-88 f110 (25598040278).jpg|thumb|right|Sailor's Round Robin early 1600s England]]

The practice was also known as ''Karakasarenban'' ({{langx|ja|傘連判状}}) in feudal Japan. Early examples of it, such as 1557 treaty including [[Mōri Motonari]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%82%98%E9%80%A3%E5%88%A4%E7%8A%B6-47044|title=傘連判状(からかされんばんじょう)とは？ 意味や使い方|first=精選版 日本国語大辞典,ブリタニカ国際大百科事典|last=小項目事典|website=kotobank.jp|accessdate=March 3, 2024}}</ref> as a prominent signer, were used for signing alliances between multiple military clans and were intended more for removing the hierarchy and emphasizing the equal status between signers rather than for a disguise. Later usages, including 1681 plea signed by a group of farmers in 25 villages <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%82%98%E9%80%A3%E5%88%A4-467251|title=傘連判(からかされんばん)とは？ 意味や使い方|first=精選版 日本国語大辞典,デジタル大辞泉,改訂新版 世界大百科事典,日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ),百科事典マイペディア,山川 日本史小辞典|last=改訂新版,世界大百科事典内言及|website=kotobank.jp|accessdate=March 3, 2024}}</ref> and a similar plea in 1754 signed by 30 local village lords, has more emphasis on hiding the ringleader. In modern Japan, there are more casual usages of the similar style of signing for ceremonial purposes including school graduation and significant events in group sports.

==Spanish–American War==
{{main|Round-Robin Letter (Spanish–American War)}}
A round-robin letter was authored in Cuba after the cessation of hostilities in 1898 by a committee of 10 brigade commanders of the American Army's V Corps including acting brigade commander [[Theodore Roosevelt]] during the [[Spanish–American War]], to accelerate the departure of the American Army back to the United States during the rainy disease-plagued summer season. This letter was leaked to the press and embarrassed the administration of US President [[William McKinley]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscatinline}}

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[[Category:Military terminology]]
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