| Gambling today is all around us. From the | | | | and laws were much more difficult to enforce. |
| local lottery to football pools at work, | | | | In the 1890s scandals in the Louisiana |
| gambling has become as much a part of our | | | | lottery resulted in new anti-lottery laws. |
| lives as shopping or eating with the family. | | | | |
| But for millions of teens it may develop into | | | | Legislation banning lotteries in many states |
| so much more than the occasional bet with | | | | soon followed, some were even written into |
| friends. It can become an obsession, a way of | | | | the State Constitution. |
| life. The problem of gambling compulsively is | | | | |
| a crippling illness that can destroy | | | | The second wave of legal gambling was |
| families, friends, jobs, and lives. | | | | short-lived. Scandals and the rise of |
| | | | Victorian morality led to the end of legal |
| Many history books specializing in the study | | | | gambling. Virtually all forms of gambling |
| of the legal aspects of gambling, argue that | | | | were prohibited in the United States by 1910. |
| gambling in the United States has gone | | | | There was legal betting in only 3 states, |
| through three historical phases. Gambling | | | | which allowed horse racing, but even that |
| thrived during the colonial and post | | | | number shrank in years following. |
| revolutionary periods. Governments supported | | | | |
| and encouraged lotteries. Lotteries however | | | | The thoughts about gambling ran so strong |
| were not the only type of gambling during | | | | that Arizona and New Mexico were required to |
| this time. Wagering on horse racing was | | | | outlaw casinos to gain statehood. The |
| another popular form of gambling. Racing | | | | prohibition however did not stop gambling. |
| though was not quite as organized or as | | | | There were many types of illegal gambling |
| complex as modern day horse racing. Instead | | | | houses. Some operated openly for many years, |
| the gambling was only between a few owners of | | | | but had to pay protection money to the law |
| horses and their partisans. The first | | | | enforcement authorities for this privilege. |
| racetrack in the United States was built in | | | | The third and present phase began during the |
| Long Island, New York in 1665. | | | | great depression of the 1930's. The great |
| | | | depression led to a much greater legalization |
| With the end of Jacksonian morality, came the | | | | of gambling. The antigambling mood changed as |
| end of the first phase, gambling scandals and | | | | major financial problems gripped the country, |
| outright fraud caused the ban of lotteries | | | | especially after the stock market crash of |
| and gambling. By 1862, all states expect | | | | 1929. |
| Kentucky and Missouri outlawed lotteries. The | | | | |
| second phase began after the civil war. | | | | This societal problem, like teenage smoking, |
| Southern states that were desperate for | | | | drinking and drug abuse, is yet one more area |
| revenue turned to lotteries. New laws were | | | | we will need to give attention to. |
| enacted legalizing gambling houses so that | | | | |
| states could collect taxes on them. As | | | | Interested in this subject? |
| gambling moved west it became more pervasive, | | | | |