In the United States before the Civil War, slavery was not only a social system but also a business. Every part of enslaved life was measured and turned into profit. From the crops they grew to the children they bore, enslaved Africans were treated as property. After the 1808 ban on importing new slaves, owners turned to slave breeding to increase their numbers, and to insurance to protect their financial interests. One of the clearest examples of this dehumanization was slave insurance, which allowed slaveholders and companies to insure enslaved Africans in the same way they insured ships, buildings, or livestock.
Slave insurance became an increasingly important industry after the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves took effect in 1808. This federal law made it illegal to bring new enslaved Africans into the United States. As a result, the existing enslaved African population became far more valuable, particularly skilled workers who could be rented out for profit.
Since no new supply was coming into the country, insurance became a way for owners to protect themselves financially. If a rented-out enslaved African died or could not work, the owner still received compensation. This practice turned the lives of enslaved Africans into a form of financial security.
To the enslaver, owning an African man, woman, or child was an investment. A healthy young field hand could fetch hundreds of dollars, while a skilled blacksmith, carpenter, or artisan might be worth thousands. Losing that “property” through death or injury meant losing money. Insurance provided a way to hedge against that risk.
Slave insurance made death itself profitable, ensuring that even in tragedy, the system of slavery found a way to extract value from the enslaved.
Slave insurance worked much like any modern policy. The slaveholder would pay premiums to an insurance company. If the slave died, especially while doing dangerous work, the company would pay out a sum to the owner, offsetting the financial loss. In some cases, policies even covered temporary disability, ensuring the slaveholder could recoup income while his slave recovered.
Insurance on enslaved Africans was especially common in industries where the danger of death or injury was high. Railroads, canals, and shipping enterprises often relied on enslaved laborers to perform backbreaking and perilous tasks. A railroad company, for example, might hire a skilled enslaved carpenter from his owner for a set fee, then agree to insure his life in case of accident or death. The enslaved man’s body and labor became part of the contract, and his life was reduced to a calculated risk in the eyes of both the employer and the insurer.
This was not a practice confined to small Southern firms. Northern companies were deeply involved as well. In 1852, the Aetna Insurance Company, today one of the largest health insurers in the United States, issued policies insuring enslaved Africans against death. Some policies paid out between $200 and $1,000, depending on the worker’s skill and health.
New York Life and other firms wrote similar policies, including ones that covered enslaved children. Lloyd’s of London, a global leader in maritime insurance, also profited from underwriting policies connected to slavery and the transatlantic trade.
Records show that these policies were often very specific. They listed enslaved people by name, age, and value. These documents gave enslaved Africans no rights. Instead, they turned them into financial entries in a company’s books and treated them as financial risks to be managed, not fathers, mothers, or children.
Slave insurance was also tied to the broader credit economy. Enslaved Africans often served as collateral when planters sought loans. A bank might lend thousands of dollars to a plantation owner, secured by the value of enslaved Africans. Insurance strengthened this system. A policy on an enslaved laborer guaranteed that if death struck, the lender or owner would still recover part of the investment.
Enslaved Africans were often insured and then used to secure loans for land, equipment, or other business needs. In many loan agreements of the 1800s, enslaved workers appeared on contracts alongside farm tools and animals, showing how fully human lives were treated as property within the financial system.
In recent years, the legacy of this practice has resurfaced. Some U.S. states, like California and Illinois, have required insurance companies to disclose their historical involvement in slave insurance. In 2000, Aetna publicly apologized for its role in insuring enslaved Africans and reimbursing slave owners for financial losses when those they enslaved died. The revelation has fed into the broader conversation around reparations, raising difficult questions about the responsibility of corporations that once profited from human bondage.
Sources:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-11-fi-7637-story.html
