When New York Tried to Crowdsource Naval Warfare: The Forgotten Story of America's Second Corporate Law

How a desperate wartime gamble created corporate law innovation

In October 1814, as British forces were burning Washington D.C. and threatening to "lay waste our cities and habitations," the New York legislature took an extraordinary step. They passed what would become one of the most unusual pieces of corporate legislation in American history: An Act to Encourage Privateering Associations. This forgotten statute represents the second general incorporation law in U.S. history and a fascinating example of how states used corporate law as an instrument of industrial—and even military—policy.

This post is based on my new article, The Law and Economics of An Act to Encourage Privateering Associations (July 21, 2025). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5360797 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5360797

It will be going out to law reviews for consideration next month.