The Limits of Equality: An Economic Analysis of the Israeli Kibbutz

In effect, the industry adopted both approaches. For southerners, companies almost universally (yet independently) employed every possible means of legally voiding policies. Alternatively, in the North, the industry embraced its public duty—or at least wrapped itself in the image of that duty. While creating a united front and collectively charging an exorbitant war premium to cover the uncertainties of war, they simultaneously claimed to be patriotically supporting the Union and defending families from some of the worst consequences of war. In hindsight, their tactics were genius. The goodwill and publicity engendered with the payment of each death claim, combined with a generally heightened awareness of mortality, greatly increased interest in life insurance. Suffering little loss as a result of their war risk policies, the industry converted this reputation capital into huge gains as postwar demand for life insurance skyrocketed. Life insurance in force surged from approximately 70,000 policies collectively worth $150 million in 1860 to more than 800,000 policies totaling $2.3 billion (in 1860 dollars) just a decade later. Life insurance had quietly become a necessity for the average middle-income American family.