by Sean McGarry
The lottery’s role in upholding the 13 Colonies.
Above is an image from one of the first lottery drawings in Venice, Italy. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/8-notable-lotteries-from-history
Everybody has once dreamed of winning a lottery and taking home the jackpot. After all, who wouldn’t want a load of cash added to their pocket? With a 1 in 292 million chance of success, people apprehensively marvel at their TV screens until the six numbers appear. “Another million down the drain.” Though very unlikely, the miracle of winning can change the lives of ordinary people. In modern times, buying lottery tickets is a common practice, and merely a game of luck. Although shocking, this way of gambling actually dates back to the 1600s, and is believed to have been one of the most influential facets in the formation of the 13 colonies.
The 1600s? Who ran it back then? The first ever lottery in the United States dates back to 1612, when the Virginia Company of London conducted a drawing of 4,000 crowns. This endeavor was to fund ships that were destined to sail to Jamestown. Many more were held from here on.
In 1616, the Virginia Company of London tried to maneuver another way around the inconvenience of selling tickets: instant games. Participants paid a fixed amount of money to the administrator, who would allow them to choose from a stack of tickets to see if they were the winner. This was a much more efficient process, and mimics our form of scratch-off games today. It was a rather lucrative method of lottery, too, drawing in about £8 million ($11.1 million).
In later years, lotteries were a source of income for the government, in which the revenue was spent on resources such as buildings, roads, and canals. Some of the earliest reputable colleges founded as a direct result of lotteries included:
Harvard (1636)
William and Mary (1693)
Yale (1701)
Princeton (1746)
In 1720, history was made when the first lottery advertisement was published in the American Weekly Mercury, stating that 350 tickets were available, at the cost of 20 shillings each. In some ways, the government and people viewed this process as a collection of voluntary tax, in which products like jewelry and empty houses could stand as the reward, with revenue still exceeding the total premium.
Were the 13 Colonies the first to establish a lottery system? Absolutely not. It is believed that the first one of monetary compensation dates back to 16th Century Europe. In 1530, a drawing took place in Florence, Italy (1530). This miniature form of the lottery was only employed to raise slight government revenue. From then on, the British, as well as other countries, comprehended the possibility of utilizing this practice to finance different essential infrastructures (roads, bridges, office buildings, etc.).
The application of lotteries on the 13 Colonies can, most memorably, be seen in backing efforts from the First Continental Congress in 1776. In fact, one ticket read, “This ticket entitles the bearer to receive such prize as may be drawn against its number, according to a resolution of Congress, passed at Philadelphia, November 18, 1776.”
Although it cannot be attributed to the entirety of the 13 Colonies, lotteries have been an integral part of colonization, and to a greater extent, our nation’s federal funding.
Sources
Little, B. (2019). Lottery Tickets Helped Fund America’s 13 Colonies. History.
https://www.history.com/news/13-colonies-funding-lottery
History of the Lottery in the United States. (n.d.). Lottery.net. Retrieved from
https://www.lottery.net/articles/history-of-the-lottery
Huddleston, Jr., T. (2019). These people won the lottery multiple times, taking
home millions—a Harvard prof. talks odds. Make It. Retrieved from
Laskow, S. (2017). Colonial America Was Built on Lottery Revenue. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved from
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/early-american-lottery-ticket-colonial
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