U.S. & World History – During the Civil War only three border states remained neutral; Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. The governors from all three states were sports fans, and unsuccessfully attempted to persuade both the North and the South to put large numbers on the back of their uniforms, in attempt to accurately keep the score of each individual battle. President Lincoln was outraged when he heard about the suggestion of the governors, and planned on making betting on sports a federal crime. But unfortunately the friends of compulsive gambler John Wilkes Booth didn’t take him serious when he said he figured out a way to stop him.
