The official lottery is a game of chance run by a state government that offers people the opportunity to win a prize in exchange for a nominal sum of money. The prizes are often large cash sums, but they can also be goods or services. Most states have lotteries. The modern version of this game began in the mid-twentieth century. It is a controversial form of taxation, and it has drawn many opponents. Some argue that the state is exploiting people’s desire to become rich, and that it preys on poor and working-class people. Others point out that the lottery is a form of regressive taxation, because it imposes a greater burden on those who can least afford it.

In the early American colonies, for instance, lotteries were used to raise funds for everything from civil defense to construction of churches. The Continental Congress even held a lottery to try to fund the Revolutionary War. By the late 1800s, however, public lotteries had fallen out of favor. Corruption, moral uneasiness, and the rise of bonds and standardized taxes had all contributed to their demise.