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America Gambling History In
by Jerry "Jet"
Whittaker
Sept 12, 2006
American Gambling History in
Do
you really want to know about American gambling history?
America has had a long history of gambling
activity. We can distinguish the whole American gambling
history in three stages. Okay, lets start from 17th
century.
The First Stage: 1600's to mid 1800's:
In
early 1600’s America comprised of two colonies, namely
the English people and the Puritans. Both these two
colonies had different attitude towards gambling.
Puritans had strongly belief that gambling activities
were illegal and it should be prohibited in society. But
English were very much liberal about gambling and they
considered it as a legal activity.
In
America during the early 1800s gambling in the lower
Mississippi Valley became a legitimate and organized
enterprise. Gradually gambling establishments were
started in river towns and were popular haunts for both
travelers and professional gamblers. But there was a
huge clog against professional gambler as they were
blamed for limiting
-
Economic growth,
-
Committing crimes,
-
Interfering with business,
-
Degrading the public morality, etc.
Therefore gambling activity in America faced a great
obstacle in these days. In 1835, the gambling activity
in America got a new direction and it moved from the
town into the riverboats.
Second Stage: Mid-1800's to Early 1900's:
This stage was considered as the development era for the
gambling activity in America. In this time the gambler
found their way to California. The apex of California
gambling was from 1849 to 1855. The other city like San
Francisco, Los Angeles, and New Orleans was also come
under the same gambling umbrella. Lotteries and horse
racing gambling also became popular in this time. In
1868, the Louisiana Lottery Company was authorized and
granted a 25-year charter.
Gambling Prohibition:
But with the increasing popularity, public opinion also
quickly turns against gambling. In California
gambling prohibition law was enacted. In other parts of
the America also legislature made most types of gambling
illegal. In 1860, all banking games were banned.
Lotteries also banned in California.
Adverse Effects of Prohibition:
Though several laws were enacted to prohibit gambling
but the laws were not uniform everywhere and it leads to
discrimination among gamblers. Gambling was legal in
Nevada between 1869 and 1910. So, gambling activity was
increases there. As result of that legislature was not
being able to controlled gambling.
Third Stage (Early 1930's to Present):
In
the third stage gambling activity began to make a
comeback in every cities. In 1933, Michigan, New
Hampshire, Ohio, and California legalized parimutuel
betting. In the same California Legislature passed a
statute as the Horse Racing Act. Floating casinos were
also banned in this time.
Nevada
has the most famous
gambling industry in America. Though gambling
activity struggled in Nevada since it’s begging but most
forms of gambling was legalized in Nevada from 1931.
Organized Crime and Gambling:
Most of the casinos were in America run by mobster and
it increases the crime frequency in there. During
1950’s, the Senate Committee investigated the organized
crime in gambling industry and held number of hearings.
The committee's finding was a crackdown on criminal
influence and a cleansing of the casino industry and
subsequently mobs the mob sold their casino interests to
lawful individuals and publicly traded companies. After
that legislature welcomed gambling and made it legalized
to some extent.
.
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