%3Ch1%3ELife%20Insurance%20Companies%3C%2Fh1%3E%3Cp%3EInsurance%20began%20as%20a%20way%20of%20reducing%20the%20risk%20of%20traders%2C%20as%20early%20as%205000%20BC%20in%20China%20and%204500%20BC%20in%20Babylon.%20Life%20insurance%20dates%20only%20to%20ancient%20Rome%3B%20%22burial%20clubs%22%20covered%20the%20cost%20of%20members%27%20funeral%20expenses%20and%20helped%20survivors%20monetarily.%20Modern%20life%20insurance%20started%20in%20late%2017th%20century%20England%2C%20originally%20as%20insurance%20for%20traders%3A%20merchants%2C%20ship%20owners%20and%20underwriters%20met%20to%20discuss%20deals%20at%20Lloyd%27s%20Coffee%20House%2C%20predecessor%20to%20the%20famous%20Lloyd%27s%20of%20London.%3C%2Fp%3E%0D%0A%3Cp%3E%0D%0AThe%20first%20insurance%20company%20in%20the%20United%20States%20was%20formed%20in%20Charleston%2C%20South%20Carolina%20in%201732%2C%20but%20it%20provided%20only%20fire%20insurance.%20The%20sale%20of%20life%20insurance%20in%20the%20U.S.%20began%20the%20late%201760s.%20The%20Presbyterian%20Synods%20in%20Philadelphia%20and%20New%20York%20created%20the%20Corporation%20for%20Relief%20of%20Poor%20and%20Distressed%20Widows%20and%20Children%20of%20Presbyterian%20Ministers%20in%201759%3B%20Episcopalian%20priests%20organized%20a%20similar%20fund%20in%201769.%20Between%201787%20and%201837%20more%20than%20two%20dozen%20life%20insurance%20companies%20were%20started%2C%20but%20fewer%20than%20half%20a%20dozen%20survived.%0D%0A%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%0D%0APrior%20to%20the%20American%20Civil%20War%2C%20many%20insurance%20companies%20in%20the%20United%20States%20insured%20the%20lives%20of%20slaves%20for%20their%20owners.%20In%20response%20to%20bills%20passed%20in%20California%20in%202001%20and%20in%20Illinois%20in%202003%2C%20the%20companies%20have%20been%20required%20to%20search%20their%20records%20for%20such%20policies.%20New%20York%20Life%20for%20example%20reported%20that%20Nautilus%20sold%20485%20slaveholder%20life%20insurance%20policies%20during%20a%20two-year%20period%20in%20the%201840s%3B%20they%20added%20that%20their%20trustees%20voted%20to%20end%20the%20sale%20of%20such%20policies%2015%20years%20before%20the%20Emancipation%20Proclamation.%3C%2Fp%3E