R2d § 6

Section 6 identifies the categories of formal contracts that survive as distinct doctrinal islands in the modern common law. Contracts under seal, recognizances, negotiable instruments and documents, and letters of credit each have their own formation rules and, in some cases, their own consideration substitutes. The section flags them as special categories precisely so the rest of the course can proceed without worrying about them.

The doctrinal move is to fence off the formal contracts so that the general bargain-theory analysis in §§ 17-94 applies to the typical informal contract. Before the nineteenth century, the seal was the primary mechanism for enforcing promises without proof of consideration. The modern trend has eroded seal doctrine in most states, but some jurisdictions still treat the seal as a consideration substitute or as extending statutes of limitations.

For Chapter 1 purposes, § 6 does two pedagogical things. First, it tells students that their contracts course is primarily about informal contracts — the bilateral and unilateral bargains that make up commercial life. Second, it plants a flag: when you see a sealed instrument or a negotiable promissory note, different rules may apply. Article 3 of the UCC governs negotiable instruments; letters of credit fall under UCC Article 5.

Students sometimes ask whether electronic records can be "formal" contracts in the § 6 sense. The answer requires distinguishing the formal requirements (signature, seal, notarization) from the electronic-signature frameworks of E-SIGN and UETA, which treat electronic records as satisfying writing requirements without creating new categories of formal contracts.

Connect to R2d § 95 (requirements for sealed contracts), UCC § 1-201 (definitions including "agreement" and "contract"), and UCC § 2-105 (definition of "goods" as the threshold for Article 2 coverage). In Chapter 1, § 6 appears in the Foundations section alongside the definitional rules that set the scope of the entire course.