Why did women become prostitutes during the Early American Republic? A lot of work has been done on prostitution during the mid-nineteenth century, but not enough has looked at the sex trade during the nation’s founding and early-nineteenth century. This paper looks at the social and economic pressures faced by women that made them turn to prostitution. It also looks at the social and economic gains, and losses, they experienced as prostitutes. Furthermore, it looks at investment in the sex trade through real estate. This is done by looking at sex culture in Philadelphia, a working woman’s wage potential in Baltimore, and the importance of property in New York City.
During the mid- to late-eighteenth century, an open sex culture flourished within the colonies. With the founding of the American Republic, social expectations of women changed as the idea of virtue became central. The social costs of entering prostitution rose and women’s career options remained limited. In the jobs that were available, women made less than half the wages of men on average. Prostitution presented itself as a way for an independent woman to support herself. As the economy became more service-based during the nineteenth century, brothels rose in popularity. Brothels attracted wealthy investors as profitable real-estate investments. Economic incentives outweighed social costs for enough people that the sex trade became incredibly successful.
Author: Karli Schivitz
Advisors: Dr. Lindsay Schakenbach Regele and Dr. Kimberly Hamlin, Department of History; Dr. Gregory Niemesh, Department of Economics
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