Uncovered: The Story of Insurance in America
Katherine Hempstead
Published:
2024
Online ISBN:
9780190094188
Print ISBN:
9780190094157
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Uncovered: The Story of Insurance in America
Katherine Hempstead
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Katherine Hempstead
Katherine Hempstead
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Abstract
This chapter describes the emergence of the fire and life insurance industries in the United States. Commercial fire insurance had existed since the late eighteenth century, but life insurance developed more recently. Life insurance was initially viewed negatively by many who considered it speculative and potentially a threat to thrift. Yet over time it became more widely accepted, and demand for fire and life insurance grew with economic modernization and urbanization after the Civil War. The heart of the developing insurance industry was in lower Manhattan, where the many new firms clustered. The fire and life businesses evolved differently, but insurers in both sectors engaged in ruthless competition and there were multiple insolvencies. In an era of little regulation, the insurance trade press played an important role in airing issues and identifying trends but also lacked journalistic ethics and served as paid propagandists for companies.
Keywords: Nineteenth century business, fire insurance history, life insurance history, insurance trade press, Beecher family, non-forfeiture, Elizur Wright
Subject
Political Economy Business History
Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online
Uncovered. Katherine Hempstead, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2024. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190094157.003.0001
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