Early American commercial law was framed as international rather than parochial

Evidence

The laws of admiralty, marine insurance, commercial paper, and sale of goods were not, supposedly, parochial law, English law; they were part of an international body of rules. “The marine law of the United States,” wrote James Kent of New York, “is the same as the marine law of Europe. It is not the law of a particular country, but the general law of nations.” … These words have to be taken with a grain of salt. But they did have a kernel of truth, and, what is more important, they reflected the opinion of leading American lawyers. Trade was international. The American population in 1776 was strung out narrowly along the coast. Commerce was, in large measure, ocean commerce; the customs and documents of trade, of admiralty, were standard equipment for a developing country with windows on the ocean. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1539

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Commercial complexity made lawyers indispensable despite colonial hostility — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 519; American negotiable instruments law was more advanced than England’s — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1578

Broader Connections

• American negotiable instruments law was more advanced than England’s #corroborates (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1578