History Of Prostitution In America

1028 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The pros and cons of criminalization of prostitution

In the traditional American reform, prostitution has been accepted during every period of American history. Those working for a social change did so under a variety of principles, from religious dedication to personal liberty. Some fought against prostitution as a moral or social injustice while others charged prostitution as an injustice against women. Beginning in the colonies and continuing even up to present day America, this research will present the philosophies and management behind prostitution reform.

As Europeans settlers came into America, the people coming in were mostly men in search of the traditional rights and freedoms Associated with America. History darkens the more original desires of this colonizers- sex. Barely any men brought their wives and children along on the long sea voyage or brought them into the colonies, but, in-spite of the misfortune of having to leave their loved ones back at home the men still had a strong desire to appease their "masculine passions".
The number of women living in the colonies were relatively small but they still experienced freedom, the prostitutes that came on-board from Europe came in and flourished in America, until the stabilization of the colonies,and the families could once again join the men, then institutions such as churches, sprung up to meet the needs of the newcomers. The sex trade continued to expand as the traffickers and sailors replacing some, if not all, of the family men. Female indentured servants, if they chose not to marry after servant-hood, found sex work lucrative. Protest from clergy and the religious voice of colonies prospered at getting whorehouses outlawed in 1672. One Because women could no longer work out of the "shops", so many took t...

... middle of paper ...

...1900's said that the problem was between the Government and prostitutes as a question of seexual freedom, personal choice, and privacy.

With prostitution still arising and thriving in present day America the Argument and war waged on it by media has changed from an advocated perspective, to being seen as present day slavery among women. Especially with modern practices of forced trafficking and drugged prostitution. the views have changed from one of a women's private and personal freedom of choice, to one of "the ones who weren't lucky enough to get away from being drugged, kidnapped and forced into slaved prostitution."

The act of and war of prostitution has been going one since the beginning of time and with it going on this long it would be justifiable for all hope to be lost in the the attempt to break women away from the sexual bondage of prostitution.

Show More
Related

  • Indentured Servitude and Slavery in the New World

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1600’s people began to look for different types of work in the new world. As cash crops, such as tobacco, indigo, and rice, were growing in the South, there became a need for labor. This got the attention of convicts, debtors, and other people looking for new opportunities and money. Indentured servitude was vastly growing during the 17th and 18th centuries. Approximatively 10 million men, women, and children were moved to the new world. Women during this time found themselves being sold to men for these cash crops. A commonly used term during this time for these women was tobacco brides. Almost 7.7 million of the slaves captured and moved to the new world were African Americans. Slaves and indentured servants had it rough for

    Read More

  • Eros Live in New York

    2904 Words  | 6 Pages

    ... increased, men became more involved in the sex industry. From the case of Helen Jewett and Robert P. Robinson, a new image of prostitution was created, as well as the new sporting man culture. Prostitution was not unique to women, for subcultures of male prostitutes and homosexuals existed. In the sex community, women formed support networks with one another, creating sisterhoods. As the years progressed, sex became more integrated into popular culture and public space, accessible to all classes of New Yorkers. Police and politics were often ineffective with handling prostitution, and often time’s police officers were handsomely paid off by well-known establishments; vigilantism was a result of this inadequate policing. Finally, in the late 1900s, Charles Henry Parkhurst led the most popular anti-prostitution campaign, resulting in the decline in the sex industry.

    Read More

  • American Changes between 1825-1850

    397 Words  | 1 Pages

    In early America between the years of 1825-1850, America was rapidly changing and reforming the way people lived. Societal problems and major discrepancies that had previously been overlooked began to rapidly gain awareness. The main idea of the reforms in the United States at this time was the relatively new sense of Democracy. Reform sought to maximize these benefits in light of Democracy and for this reason came up with many changes in which greater good can be found through freedom, justice, and equality of all people.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast New England And Chesapeake Colonies

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Chesapeake colonist came to the new world searching for economic success, and discovery. Subsequently, they developed large farming communities, exporting commodities like, tobacco back to England for profit. However, the majority of the Chesapeake colonies consisted of a male workforce, and according to the pursuit of happiness, males outnumbered females three to one (14). The economic situation in the Chesapeake region contributed to civil strife like, Bacons rebellion, but because the society was based on economics it prevented a witchcraft scare. However, the New England colonist economic system was religious based, therefor they relied on fishing, and farming on a small scale to sustain their local communities. Thus, they never developed a true economic system that would expand their region of control. The small independent structure of the New England colonies highlighted the engrained local strife within their communities, culminating into the witchcraft

    Read More

  • Women in Colonial Times

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    In colonial times, men have always dominated the world not only in power but also in number. Multitudes of bachelors flooded the southern colonies and the longing for a wife dismantled a number of men out of their colony. Frequent deaths made by deadly diseases contributed to the decline on the number of women in the southern colony. The well-known Bacon's Rebellion was one of the effects of the frustration felt by majority of the men's population. In the late 1700's, settlers began to adopt their environment and created immunity among certain diseases. Women's population incline tremendously giving forth the rapid population growth. The need for land and shelter expanded the territories of the early colonies.

    Read More

  • Colonial Women and Her Changing Role

    1395 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women of the seventeenth century had many reasons to accept the challenge of traversing to the New World. Life in England was not always easy, in fact, sometimes worse than in Virginia. Working conditions were appalling, with little pay and long hours. Many found work as servants to the upper class or turned to prostitution. The type of women who gladly boarded the ships were mostly young, single women of low class roots. Sometimes they were young widows who had been left impoverished or women who had no male in their lives for support and protection.1.

    Read More

  • Prostitution During the Eighteenth Century

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the late eighteenth century, particularly 1770s through 1790s, the common woman of London, England had a primacy through life because of the growing center of prostitution. Women, specifically single women, were considered to be destined for prostitution because of the absence of a male role model. However, some women found great success in this lifestyle because of the beneficial assets garnered within their interactions with their clients. As to the courts, benefiting some of these assets were due to involuntary judgments which lead to women imprisonment. Women who worked as prostitutes were compared to materialistic property used for pleasurable encounters. Often in London, these women were categorized in three different demeanors according to some of the case trials brought against them. The major characteristic was focused on the means of survival. Women struggled to survive in London because of the male dominancy overruling their judgment of their own behaviors and beliefs. Another demeanor of prostitutes was identify with theft and abuse of taking what should have been rightfully owed to them for their services. Lastly, the behavior of organized crime was in favor of prostitutes; for what they did against their clients was only to gain recognition and praise from their brothel-keeper. There was a concerned discourse about the city on whether the act of prostitution was right or wrong. London usually showed a humane attitude towards prostitutes and maintained justice for the women who choose this profession.

    Read More

  • Prostitution in the Victorian Era

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prostitutes did not necessarily “enjoy” their sexual encounters with men, as Victorians tended to believe. Prostitution was their survival. Lower-class women did not become prostitutes because they wanted to. They became prostitutes because they had no alternate choice for survival. There were few options that allowed women to live off her own income instead of her family’s income, and once she e...

    Read More

  • Prostitution In The American West

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the middle of the nineteenth century, America experienced a boom of expansion and development. Miners in pursuit of gold and riches raced across the country, establishing mining and frontier towns along the way. A lot of these towns or settlements had high populations of men, like miners and army garrisons. With a rise in these developments, the West also experienced a rise in prostitution. Prostitution is defined as the contractual relation in which sexual services are exchanged for a sum of money (Davis, 1937). Prostitution in the early West was a cutthroat business. Predominantly a female occupation, many women, including those from overseas, were often forced into the lifestyle and found it very difficult to leave the profession (Oharazeki, 2013). Due to the skewed gender role expectations in the nineteenth century American West, female prostitutes often experienced abusive masters, pitiful wages, and an overarching poor quality of life.

    Read More

  • The Plantation Mistress By Catherine Clinton Summary

    451 Words  | 1 Pages

    The book starts out explaining how in the 17th century, women were seen as an “economic commodity”, shipped from the Old World to Virginia as brides for planters and freemen. She points out that the farmers were enticed to marry the women due to the promise of increased land by colonial

    Read More

  • Prostitution in Pompeii

    2765 Words  | 6 Pages

    "Virtue is something lofty, elevated and regal, invincible and indefatigable; Pleasure is something lowly and servile, feeble and perishable, which has its base and residence in the brothels and drinking houses" (Cornell & Lomas,39). Prostitution, though, not only took place in brothels and taverns. Women worked as prostitutes in brothels, inns, or baths open to the public (Pomeroy,192). They either walked the streets or stopped and stood outside the brothels, which were not allowed to open until 3 pm (Balsdon, 224). Sometimes prostitutes were used as after dinner entertainment (Edwards, 188), and many hotel owners provided their guests with prostitutes (Shelton, 327).

    Read More

  • Prostitution In Nevada Essay

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nevada has long been home to libertarian ideals and consequently this state has tolerated prostitution, particularly in mining towns, since its inception. In fact, Mona’s in Elko, which has been open since 1902, is the oldest existing brothel in Nevada. This is the only state that didn’t pass wide-ranging prostitution laws, although pandering and street-prostitution were outlawed in 1911 and 1913. Nevada’s legislators obviously valued laissez faire concepts, but they also implemented some basic regulatory measures by not allowing brothels to be located near churches or schools, nor on main streets. Furthermore, in 1937, Nevada’s State Board of Health began requiring prostitutes working in brothels to submit to tests for venereal diseases.

    Read More

  • Prostitution

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many argument that people use to dispute prostitution from religion, to prudence, and even personal experience. However, the most widely used argument against it brings up the idea of trafficking and those forced into the industry by abusive boyfriends and pimps, or simply those who feel that they have no other option; and rightly so! These issues are huge problems and ...

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of the Legalization of Prostitution

    1628 Words  | 4 Pages

    The viewpoints that are the most vehemently opposed to legalizing prostitution in the United States stem from religious ideals. Charles Clark, senior editor at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, suggests that sex out of marriage is a large factor in the disapproval of prostitution from religious Americans (1993). The religious perspective offers something than many prostitution arguments lack. A series of guidelines and clear cut rules on the matter. Evelina Giobbe (as cited in Clark, 1993), director of Women Hurt in Systems of Prostitution, implies that most religious groups find that prostitution is immoral (1993). The idea that prostitution is immoral makes making policy on the matter easy. Those who prescribe to the religious way of thinking seem to suggest that prostitution should not be allowed and therefore criminalized. On the other hand there are arguments against prostitution that feel that it is immoral for other reasons.

    Read More

  • Pro Legalization of Prostitution

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prostitution has been around many centuries and will not be eradicated any time in the

    Read More

More about History Of Prostitution In America

Open Document