The History of Life Insurance.
Insurance offers financial protection against risk, and buying insurance policies has become a normal part of modern life for almost all of us. Although one form or another of insurance has been around for thousands of years, most of the everyday kinds of insurance in common use today are relative newcomers on the historical scene.
Insurance itself can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, around 5000 BC, as a way to protect traders. There are also stories of a more humanistic form of insurance, with neighbors helping neighbors and settlers taking care of each other during difficult periods in history. While that has no monetary value attached to it like our current insurance policies do, we consider that insurance because of the gesture of caring and providing for someone else. What we think of as life insurance didn't come along until later.
In ancient Rome there were "burial clubs." Members of these clubs were protected against funeral costs and their survivors were given financial aid. The origins of the burial clubs were religious. The Romans believed that if someone was not given a proper burial, he or she could not find peace in the afterlife. For all but the very rich, burial clubs were essential to finding peace in death, because every proper funeral required a large and often lavish celebration.
Modern life insurance dates from the late 1600's in England. Life insurance was originally intended, like the ancient Chinese tangs, to protect the transactions of merchants and traders. The death of a business partner, without insurance, could lead to disastrous results to the commercial enterprise. These early life insurance policies protected those who brought goods into society and those who sold them to the public. Life quickly became essential to stable commerce.
The earliest American life insurance company appeared in 1732 in Charleston, in the colony of South Carolina, although at its founding, the company only offered fire insurance. Life insurance was not sold in the Thirteen Colonies until the 1760's, but it quickly became a big business. In the southern states of the US, life insurance policies were issued for slaves. One company in New York allegedly issued 485 policies on slaves in just two years during the 1840's. However, as the northern states became more adamant in their opposition to slavery, insurance companies were ordered to stop insuring slaves. If the records are to be believed, the sale of life insurance on the lives of slaves stopped several years before the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Ordered to search their records to purge any policies that indirectly supported slavery, life insurance companies found no such policies even before the Civil War.
Whatever type of insurance policy you hold today, one thing that is sure is that the history of life insurance is rich and complex. One constant, however, has not changed. Life insurance is designed to protect our heirs from whatever life sends their way. Speak with a qualified life insurance agent if you have any questions about how life insurance can protect your loved ones. A qualified agent can examine the specifics of your situation and help you find exactly the policy you need.
Insurance itself can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, around 5000 BC, as a way to protect traders. There are also stories of a more humanistic form of insurance, with neighbors helping neighbors and settlers taking care of each other during difficult periods in history. While that has no monetary value attached to it like our current insurance policies do, we consider that insurance because of the gesture of caring and providing for someone else. What we think of as life insurance didn't come along until later.
In ancient Rome there were "burial clubs." Members of these clubs were protected against funeral costs and their survivors were given financial aid. The origins of the burial clubs were religious. The Romans believed that if someone was not given a proper burial, he or she could not find peace in the afterlife. For all but the very rich, burial clubs were essential to finding peace in death, because every proper funeral required a large and often lavish celebration.
Modern life insurance dates from the late 1600's in England. Life insurance was originally intended, like the ancient Chinese tangs, to protect the transactions of merchants and traders. The death of a business partner, without insurance, could lead to disastrous results to the commercial enterprise. These early life insurance policies protected those who brought goods into society and those who sold them to the public. Life quickly became essential to stable commerce.
The earliest American life insurance company appeared in 1732 in Charleston, in the colony of South Carolina, although at its founding, the company only offered fire insurance. Life insurance was not sold in the Thirteen Colonies until the 1760's, but it quickly became a big business. In the southern states of the US, life insurance policies were issued for slaves. One company in New York allegedly issued 485 policies on slaves in just two years during the 1840's. However, as the northern states became more adamant in their opposition to slavery, insurance companies were ordered to stop insuring slaves. If the records are to be believed, the sale of life insurance on the lives of slaves stopped several years before the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Ordered to search their records to purge any policies that indirectly supported slavery, life insurance companies found no such policies even before the Civil War.
Whatever type of insurance policy you hold today, one thing that is sure is that the history of life insurance is rich and complex. One constant, however, has not changed. Life insurance is designed to protect our heirs from whatever life sends their way. Speak with a qualified life insurance agent if you have any questions about how life insurance can protect your loved ones. A qualified agent can examine the specifics of your situation and help you find exactly the policy you need.
About the Author:
Tom Martens is the content syndication coordinator at Lifeinsurance-Southafrica.co.za South Arica's leading Life Insurance and Life Cover portal.
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