ABSTRACT
Revolution, rebellion, and insurrection are so very close to each other in meaning and also to the meanings of “riots and civil commotions” which appear as insured perils in other paragraphs, that they should be considered together rather than separately. In the Pan Am case, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals said: All parties agree that if loss was not caused by insurrection then it could not have been caused by any [other] terms relating to civil disorder. Insurrection presents the key issue because rebellion, revolution and civil war are progressive stages in the development in civil unrest, the most rudimentary form of which is insurrection. Consideration must begin with the Treason Act 1351 which made it an offence to wage war against the sovereign in his realm. The insured peril “insurrection” received close attention in the American case of Home Insurance Company of New York v. Davila, a decision of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.
