The Colonists' Participation in Lotteries

Little documentation remains to illustrate exactly why colonists purchased tickets in an early American lotteries.

The hope of winning doubtless encouraged colonists to wager as well. Unlike Englishmen, however, colonists were engaged in building a new society from the ground up.

Lotteries must have lightened the task when money was short by facilitating commercial transactions, financing public improvements, and funding charitable causes.

The local character of the schemes, moreover, gave participants a more immediate stake in the venture.

Even if a bettor did not win a prize, he likely knew precisely where his wager went and even approved of the cause to which he had contributed.

One felt less of a loss if one's purchase of an unlucky ticket helped to enhance the immediate surroundings.

Therefore, it is not surprising that during the 1760s, the lottery became one of the many bones of contention between American and English leaders.

The French and Indian War, fought to secure the English frontier in North America, heightened levels of taxation and prompted colonists to resort increasingly to lotteries in order to raise money.

When imperial authorities reviewed colonial policies during the early 1760s, preparing to tighten control of the mercantile empire in America, they decided to regulate lotteries in the colonies.

The Board of Trade began the attack by recommending that colonial legislatures outlaw the schemes, and in 1769 it instructed governors in America not to allow lotteries without the Crown's permission.

Englishmen feared the effect of the contests on American trade and industry as well as the threat of fraud.

They had long been suspicious of the colonial economy and its paper currency; the lotteries must have seemed like another unsound financial situation based on unbacked scrip.

Additionally, lotteries held in America competed against schemes authorized by Parliament, including ones to fund English government.

In restricting use of lotteries, however, imperial officials seemed out of touch with the importance of the contests in American settlements. The English attitude underscored the differences between the two societies.

When disputes between England and the colonists erupted into war, the Continental Congress, following precedents, established by both the English Parliament and the individual colonies, turned into a grand lottery to raise one and a half million dollars fro the military struggle against Britain.

That the Founding Fathers chose to finance independence through this mode of gambling seems ironic in light of the widespread admonitions against gaming proclaimed by local committees of safety as the rebels tried to galvanize public morality at the outbreak of war.