Morean v. The United States Insurance Company was a case heard by the Supreme Court in 1816. It involved an insurance policy that had been taken out on a ship, and whether or not it covered losses due to war-related risks. Morean argued that his losses were covered under the terms of the policy, while The United States Insurance Company claimed they were excluded from coverage because of their nature as war-related risks. In its decision, the court held that since there was no explicit exclusion for war risk in the contract between Morean and USIC, then any loss resulting from such events would be considered validly insured against according to its terms. This ruling established precedent for future cases involving similar issues regarding insurance policies and their coverage of certain types of risks related to warfare or other conflicts.

In Morean v. The United States Insurance Company, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties could be enforced when one of the parties had not received full consideration for their part in the agreement. The majority opinion held that since there was no evidence of fraud or misrepresentation on either side, and both sides had agreed to enter into the contract, it should be enforced as written. However, Justice Story dissented from this decision and argued that contracts must always involve mutual consideration in order for them to be valid and enforceable under law. He reasoned that if one party does not receive something of value in exchange for what they are giving up then there is no real bargain being made between them; thus making any such agreement voidable at law due to lack of consideration.