Force majeure clauses began appearing in common law contracts in the late nineteenth century as a method of importing the protections of the force majeure provisions from the French Civil Code into Anglo-American commercial arrangements to address perceived shortcomings in the common law doctrine of frustration. As the force majeure concept is derived from the civilian legal system, it coexists uneasily with many fundamental common law principles. Indeed, some commentators have gone so far as to assert that force majeure clauses are "antithetical to common law principles."
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