Investing in life : insurance in antebellum America

Investing in Life considers the creation and expansion of the American life insurance industry from its early origins in the 1810s through the 1860s and examines how its growth paralleled and influenced the emergence of the middle class.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Murphy, Sharon Ann, 1974-
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010.
Series:Studies in early American economy and society from the Library Company of Philadelphia.
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020 |a 9780801896248 (hbk. : alk. paper) 
020 |a 080189624X (hbk. : alk. paper) 
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050 0 0 |a HG8951  |b .M87 2010 
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100 1 |a Murphy, Sharon Ann,  |d 1974- 
245 1 0 |a Investing in life :  |b insurance in antebellum America  |c Sharon Ann Murphy 
260 |a Baltimore, Md. :  |b Johns Hopkins University Press,  |c 2010. 
300 |a xii, 395 p. :  |b ill. ;  |c 24 cm. 
490 1 |a Studies in early American economy and society from the Library Company of Philadelphia 
541 0 |c Gift;  |a Library Company of Philadelphia;  |d 3/27/13. 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references and index. 
505 0 |a Understanding mortality in Antebellum America: the search for a stable business model -- Selecting risks in an anonymous world: the development of the agency system -- Lying, cheating, and stealing versus the court of public opinion: preventing moral hazard and insurance fraud -- The public interest in a private industry: life insurance and the regulatory-promotional state -- Protecting women and children "in the hour of their distress": targeting the fears of an emerging middle class -- Targeting the aspirations of an emerging middle class: the triumph of mutual life insurance companies -- Securing human property: slavery, industrialization, and urbanization in the upper south -- Acting "in defiance of providence"? The public perception of life insurance -- Seeking stability in an increasingly competitive industry: the creation of the American life underwriters' convention -- Insuring soldiers, insuring civilians: the civil war as a watershed for the life insurance industry -- The perils of success during the postbellum years. 
520 |a Investing in Life considers the creation and expansion of the American life insurance industry from its early origins in the 1810s through the 1860s and examines how its growth paralleled and influenced the emergence of the middle class. 
520 |a Using the economic instability of the period as her backdrop, Sharon Ann Murphy analyzes changing roles for women; the attempts to adapt slavery to an urban, industrialized setting; the rise of statistical thinking; and efforts to regulate the business environment. Her research directly challenges the conclusions of previous scholars who have dismissed the importance of the earliest industry innovators while exaggerating clerical opposition to life insurance. 
520 |a Examining insurance as both a business and a social phenomenon, Murphy looks at how insurance companies positioned themselves within the marketplace, calculated risks associated with disease, intemperance, occupational hazard, and war, and battled fraud, murder, and suicide. She also discusses the role of consumers--their reasons for purchasing life insurance, their perceptions of the industry, and how their desires and demands shaped the ultimate product. --Book Jacket. 
650 0 |a Life insurance  |z United States  |x History  |y 19th century. 
650 0 |a Insurance companies  |z United States  |x History  |y 19th century. 
651 0 |a United States  |x Economic conditions  |y To 1865. 
830 0 |a Studies in early American economy and society from the Library Company of Philadelphia. 
852 |a Historical Society of Pennsylvania  |b Closed Stacks  |h HG 8951 .M87 2010  |t 1 
994 |a C0  |b QQR