The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a comprehensive set of laws governing all commercial transactions in the United States. It is not a federal law, but a uniformly adopted state law. Uniformity of law is essential in this area for the interstate transaction of business. Because the UCC has been universally adopted, businesses can enter into contracts with confidence that the terms will be enforced in the same way by the courts of every American jurisdiction. The resulting certainty of business relationships allows businesses to grow and the American economy to thrive. For this reason, the UCC has been called “the backbone of American commerce.”
The UCC is a joint project of the Uniform Law Commission and the American Law Institute. Recognizing that drafting a combined commercial code was a massive undertaking, the ULC invited ALI to participate in the codification project, and the ALI board accepted the invitation in 1942
Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 governs the sale of goods. It was part of the original Uniform Commercial Code approved in 1951. Article 2 represented a revision and modernization of the Uniform Sales Act, which was originally approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1906. The Uniform Law Commission and American Law Institute approved a revised Article 2 in 2003 that was not adopted in any state, and was subsequently withdrawn by both organizations in 2011. Thus the 1951 version of Article 2 is the most recent official version.
The UCC is available in print inside the Rinn Law Library but it is also available online via the Westlaw database. Once you arrive at the Westlaw UCC search bar you can either enter the words or concepts that you would like to learn more about or you can scroll down to the Article you are interested in, probably Article 2 Sales for a contracts class and then use the + sign to open additional subtopics such as: form and construction of a contract, performance, breach and remedies.