Today’s state lotteries are thriving, with Americans spending more than $100 billion annually on tickets. But the lottery has a complicated history, both as a public game and as a private enterprise. Its development has been driven by religious and moral sensibilities, social anxiety, political corruption, and even the desire to replace taxes with alternative revenue services.
In colonial America, lotteries were often used to raise funds for public projects such as paving streets, building wharves and canals, and financing colleges. In fact, Benjamin Franklin organized a lottery in Philadelphia in 1748 to help fund a militia for defense against French marauders. Other colonists used lotteries to build churches and schools, and as a means of paying for the ships that would carry them to their new homes in Virginia and Massachusetts.
But the popularity of lotteries began to decline in the 1800s, when moral and religious sensibilities shifted against gambling. Moreover, corruption had become rampant in the industry, with lottery organizers often pocketing prize money without distributing it to winners.
Lotteries also have been linked to widening economic disparity, with polling suggesting that those with lower incomes play the lottery more heavily relative to their disposable incomes. In addition, many states’ lotteries develop extensive and specific constituencies, including convenience store owners (the most common lottery vendors); suppliers of instant games (heavy contributions by these companies to state political campaigns are frequently reported); teachers (in those states where a percentage of the proceeds is earmarked for education); and state legislators.
