March 31st, 2011
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Pirate Insurance
It was a time when the seas were rough and the plunder was good. Many a treasure ship were sunk and its lovely cargo taken. This was the life of a privateer, or in other words a pirate. Pirates were a democratic bunch of civilized sailors bound by no nationality.
Pirates were civilized? Yes! They were the first group of people to adopt Workmen’s Compensation because stealing a vessel’s cargo was, and still is, very dangerous. If a pirate lost a finger, foot, leg, or eye he was compensated for his loss. The payment was anywhere from 100-800 pieces of 8 (Spanish Dollar). Let us take this into a whole new perspective. The average weekly wage was 2 pieces of 8. So, the pirate workmen’s compensation policy paid pirates anywhere from 2-16 years in annual wages. It all depended on what type of injury they sustained.
After the colonial government hunted down all the pirates, it wasn’t until Otto Von Bismark needed to spice up his political campaign that the next workmen’s compensation policy was created. The year was 1881 when Bismark started his Workers Accident Insurance, which helped pave the way for the United States to adopt Workmen’s Compensation. In 1917, the Supreme Court upheld the Constitutionality of Compulsory Insurance requirements, opening the door for all states to require workers compensation.
If you would like to know more about pirate life, then head down to Denver’s Museum of Nature and Science and visit their pirate exhibit through August 21st.
If would like more information about the history of Workmen’s Compensation, click here http://www.insurancejournal.com/uncategorized/2011/03/23/191291.htm
Affordable American Insurance would like to persuade you not to become a pirate. Piracy is greatly frowned upon these days.
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