An evening with Venus : prostitution during the American Civil War / John Gaines.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gaines, John (John Jackson), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prostitution--United States--History--19th century.

Prostitution.

History.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

United States.

Physical Description:

xvii, 189 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Buffalo Gap, Texas : State House Press, [2014]

Summary:

Because of social constraints during the Civil War, women found that their limited skills combined with a lack of economic opportunities left them few choices to provide for themselves and their families. Many sold or traded sex as a means of survival. Their main clients were the soldiers, who had a sense of newfound freedom and no official military policy on prostitution to dissuade their visits. Some officers attempted to regulate the morality or health of their men, whereas others frequented prostitutes themselves, with a number of them simply ignoring the issue. Moral reformers, such as the YMCA and the US Christian Commission, tried to persuade soldiers away from prostitutes and other vices; doctors attempted to treat and cure venereal diseases among both men and women. In An Evening with Venus: Prostitution during the American Civil War, John Gaines provides a thoroughly research and analyzed examination of the sex trade during the Civil War. He explores the roles of various groups-women, enlisted soldiers, officers, doctors, reformers, among others-as they helped shape the sex trade. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Morality and Prostitution in Antebellum America 1

2 Women in the Sex Trade 23

3 The Soldiers 47

4 The General Officers 75

5 Saving the Bodies and Souls 99

6 Capitals, Armies, and Refugees: Washington and Richmond 115

7 Experiments with Regulation: Nashville and Memphis 133.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-185) and index.

ISBN:

1933337621

9781933337623

OCLC:

881029814

Publisher Number:

99961532123