Originally from The Law and Practice of United States Arbitration - Sixth Edition

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1.  The Rise of the Federal Policy

At the outset of its case law on arbitration , the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisional commitment to arbitration was faint—tentative murmurings that were barely discernable in the turbulent river of case rulings.  Moreover, the barrier of subject-matter inarbitrability was firmly in place—its regulatory impact demonstrated in litigation about the sale of securities.   

Nevertheless, the Court was taking advantage of each opportunity and working steadily to build a solid foundation upon which to establish the supremacy of federal arbitration law. 

The Court concluded that the winds of the Commerce Clause and the Supremacy Clause pushed federal diversity courts and, then, state tribunals to apply the provisions of the FAA in arbitration litigation.