R2d § 17
Requirement of a Bargain
(1) Except as stated in Subsection (2), the formation of a contract requires a bargain in which there is a manifestation of mutual assent to the exchange and a consideration.
Professor's notes
Elements: (1) manifestation of mutual assent; (2) consideration. Both required; reliance-based enforcement under § 90 is the chief exception (subsection 2).
Mutual assent: Lucy v. Zehmer operationalizes the objective test: the secret-joke defense fails because outward words manifested assent.
Consideration: Hamer v. Sidway shows the bargain element: forbearance counts when sought in exchange.
Common misunderstanding: students treat § 17 as a "meeting of the minds" rule. It is the opposite. Subjective intent is irrelevant; what matters is what was manifested. The Restatement chose "manifestation" deliberately to displace the older subjective formulation.
Cases that operationalize this rule
Section 17 offers the classic synthesis of bargain-based contract formation. It places mutual assent and consideration side by side, signaling that neither element alone is ordinarily sufficient. The section also prepares readers for exceptions, such as reliance-based enforcement, that appear elsewhere in the Restatement.