Commercial law shifted from merchants to broad market participants

Evidence

These and other doctrines were gradually woven into a tight, logical fabric of rules. Courts, in actual reported cases, applied these rules more flexibly than one might guess from abstract formulations. As a total package, they were rather too elegant (and too unknown except to lawyers) to make much difference in the real-​life market. They did signal a shift in the rules, in a growing market economy. There is a difference between a market economy and a merchant’s economy. Commercial law was once the province of a small in-​group of merchants. In a typical transaction, both buyer and seller were middlemen who understood the business background and were familiar with mercantile documents and customs. In the early nineteenth century, the law shifted its emphasis; now there was a sprawling and vigorous economy, an economy of manufacturers and producers, in addition to traditional “merchants,” and the law shifted to favor this broader cast of characters—​a class vaguely correlated with sellers rather than buyers. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1568

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Interstate commerce created pressure for uniform commercial laws — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 460; Legal profession growth tracked commercial expansion, not litigation demand alone — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1215; Commercial law developed before states enforced contracts at scale. — PAUL R. MILGRO, PAUL R. MILGRO - THE ROLE OF…, 22 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Commercial law developed before states enforced contracts at scale. #expands (0.85) — PAUL R. MILGRO, PAUL R. MILGRO - THE ROLE OF…, 22
• Nineteenth-century contract law expanded to serve the new market economy. #corroborates (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1620
• Legal innovations follow new commercial practices as they arise. #expands (0.80) — PAUL R. MILGRO, PAUL R. MILGRO - THE ROLE OF…, 33
• The common law adapts to social and economic change #expands (0.75) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1311
• Medieval merchants developed private commercial law without state enforcement #corroborates (0.70) — PAUL R. MILGRO, PAUL R. MILGRO - THE ROLE OF…, 8