The Baltimore Life Insurance Company was incorporated by the state of Maryland in 1830, and was among the first to actively sell life insurance in the United States, selling their first policy in 1831. Business was generally confined to Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., insuring members of the public in these states, including such notables as Roger Brook Taney and William Henry Harrison. In addition, the company possessed a virtual monopoly on slave life insurance until the end of the 1840's. By the eve of the Civil War, approximately half the policies sold were on slave risks....