Instead of renaming Lake Ontario,  a move rejected by most Americans, President Donald Trump should learn about the Lake’s history and be inspired to be a peacemaker.

Lake Ontario, which translated means “lake of shining water” or “beautiful lake” is really a symbol of peace. A treaty negotiated by John Quincy Adams,  the Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817, disarmed U.S and British warships on Lake Ontario, the other Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.

The Rush-Bagot Agreement was a remarkable step toward peace for it came right after the United States and Great Britain had two wars, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Those two wars led to fighting on the border between the United States and Canada, which was then a British colony.

The Rush-Bagot Agreement eliminated warships that had caused havoc on Lake Ontario and the other Lakes during the War of 1812. Great Britain and the United States were all set to start an arms race on the Lakes after the War of 1812, but Rush-Bagot stopped those plans. The agreement helped bring calm to prevent future conflict.

The Rush-Bagot Agreement can inspire disarmament and peace. President Ronald Reagan’s arms control advisor, Eugene Rostow, once told Congress “The fact that everything about the Rush-Bagot Agreement is rather dull and rather quaint is the most convincing evidence of its success.” The agreement is still in effect today.

Rostow explained “There was great tension between the United States and Great Britain over Canada on several occasions during the nineteenth century. In these periods, the Rush-Bagot Agreement was a genuine influence for restraint. “

On Lake Ontario today the waters are calm, no wars or arms races. There is a peace monument overlooking Lake Ontario at Fort Niagara in New York. It shows that peace is possible between two warring nations.

We could sure use more “dull” treaties like Rush-Bagot. For negotiations leading to treaties is the best path for nations to take. War must be avoided.  Great Britain and the United States were wise to tire of war, and to realize that diplomacy was the best path.

President Lyndon Johnson said the Rush-Bagot Agreement “was one of the most significant steps in the development of peaceful relations between the United States and Canada. The unfortified boundary between our two countries is a symbol to the rest of the world of the harmony and understanding which can be achieved by two sovereign governments.”

In fact, Rush-Bagot served as an example many times in arms control efforts between Russia and the United States during the Cold War. It can continue to serve as an example for countries to disarm nuclear weapons. The world desperately needs to regain momentum toward nuclear disarmament with new treaties. There are still over 12,000 nuclear weapons worldwide according to the Arms Control Association. Most are held by the United States and Russia.

As the activist group Back from the Brink says “we must eliminate nuclear weapons — and that doing so is possible if we engage in dialogue and act collectively.”

The Rush-Bagot Agreement proved that diplomacy is the best path to peace and disarmament. We see today how futile war is and rather than getting stuck in endless conflicts and arms races, more nations need to choose peace and disarmament.

The peace on Lake Ontario is a reminder that Canada and the United States should be friends and be able to work out resolutions to any problems in a cooperative manner. We are allies that fought together on D-Day to win World War II and worked together to stop famine caused by the war. Canada and the United States have been together through the biggest challenges. Surely we can work out trade deals or anything else inspired by the peace of Lake Ontario.

William Lambers is the author of “The Road to Peace” who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the Washington Post, Newsweek, History News Network and many other news outlets.