Underwriters Of The United States: How Insurance Shaped The American Founding
Williamsburg, VA / Chapel Hill, NC: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture / University of North Carolina Press, 2021. Hardcover. red boards w/ silver spine printing. 335 pgs w/ bw illustrations. tan & dark illustrated jacket w/ white printing. VG (two indentations to upper board edges. crinkling to spine ends. back board corners have minor tears to cloth; corner curled. dustjacket has edge-wear). Item #190766
ISBN: 9781469663630
"Unassuming but formidable, American maritime insurers used their position at the pinnacle of global trade to shape the new nation. The international information they gathered and the capital they generated enabled them to play central roles in state building and economic development. During the Revolution, they helped the U.S. negotiate foreign loans, sell state debts, and establish a single national bank. Afterward, they increased their influence by lending money to the federal government and to its citizens. Even as federal and state governments began to encroach on their domain, maritime insurers adapted, preserving their autonomy and authority through extensive involvement in the formation of commercial law. Leveraging their claims to unmatched expertise, they operated free from government interference while simultaneously embedding themselves into the nation's institutional fabric. By the early nineteenth century, insurers were no longer just risk assessors. They were nation builders and market makers."--Amazon.
Price: $75.00