Table of Contents The topic of commercial law encompasses the
rules for sale and distribution of goods and the procedures for
payment in such transactions. Modern U.S. commercial law is
derived from the 17th century principles of the law merchant.
Those principles were initially incorporated into the common law
before becoming codified into individual state statutes. Early
American legislation lacked consistency between the states. By
the end of the 19th century, legal professionals recognized the
need for uniformity in certain areas of law. Due to growing
interstate commerce, one of those areas was commerical law. The
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws was
created and it passed a Uniform Negotiable Instruments Act
followed by a Uniform Sales Act. Unfortunately, those acts were
not universally adopted. By the mid-20th century, the National
Conference joined with the American Law Institute to draft a
Uniform Commercial Code that would be widely enacted by the
states. The UCC was first p