Centering the experiences of women, this vivid social history examines Baltimore's prostitution trade and its evolution throughout the nineteenth century.

Zusammenfassung
This vivid social history of Baltimore's prostitution trade centers women in a story of how sexual commerce and debates over its regulation shaped an American city. A critical addition to the current literature addressing women's history, the history of gender and sexuality, and labor history in nineteenth-century America.

Inhalt

Introduction; Part I. The Rise of Prostitution in the Early Republic: 1. Selling sex in the early republic; 2. The expansion of prostitution and the rise of the brothel; 3. Brothel prostitution and antebellum urban commercial networks; Part II. Regulating and Policing the Sex Trade: 4. Policing the expanding sex trade; 5. 'Our patriotic friends': selling sex in the Civil War era; 6. Prostitution, policing, and property rights in the Gilded Age; Part III. Change and Decline in the Brothel Trade: 7. Black Baltimoreans and the bawdy trade; 8. Rise of urban leisure and the decline of brothels; 9. The end of an era; Conclusion.