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MONEY . GAMING
We Have Always Needed Lotteries
They have been around a long time
Where was the First Lottery?
The first one has been traced to an ancient city.
Rome held the earliest public lottery. During the Renaissance, churches as well as governments used lotteries to pay for constructing their buildings.
In Colonial Boston, a lottery was authorized in 1745. The colony had military debt and other bills to pay. Rather than raise taxes even higher, (this was before the Boston Tea Party) the General Court allowed a lottery. Even then, the winners received only 80% of the winnings; 20% was kept for the government.
It was such a success that other colonies soon started their own lotteries. They were considered a type of voluntary tax that colonists paid in exchange for the chance to win prizes.
The prizes weren’t always for money. In the early 1700s, a newspaper in Philadelphia ran a lottery ad assuring the winner “A new brick house, corner of Third and Arch.” The ticket cost 20 shillings (equal to 10 days wages for a skilled tradesman).
Lotteries Helped Build America
Lotteries financed much of America’s early infrastructure: roads, bridges, canals…
