5fish
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The Nashville Experiment started Aug. 20th 1863. Union General Granger legalized prostitution in the city of Nashville, TN. He enacted on August 20, 1863, the order declared: 1st That a license be issued to each prostitute, a record of which shall be kept at this office, together with the number and street of her residence. 2nd That one skillful surgeon be appointed as a Board of Examination whose duty it shall be to examine personally every week, each licensed prostitute, giving certificate of soundness to those who are healthy and ordering those into hospital those who are in the slightest degree diseased. 3rd That a building suitable for a hospital for the invalids be taken for that purpose, and that a weekly tax of fifty cents be levied on each prostitute for the purpose of defraying the expenses of said hospital. 4th That all public women found plying their vocation without license and certificate be at once arrested and incarcerated in the workhouse for a period of not less than thirty days.
General Granger legalized and regulated prostitution to save the union army from STDs. In doing so, Nashville became the first place in the United States where prostitution was legally protected. In the summer of 1864 Memphis, TN. followed Nashville lead and legalize prostitution to save the union army. The experiment was consider a great success.
Here is a link to a paper from Tenn. U about prostitution in the civil war and chapter 3 is about the Nashville Experiment...
http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1306&context=utk_gradthes
Link NY TIMES... http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/the-nashville-experiment/
The Nashville Experiment
Here are some excerpts from the article in the NY Times
Like other radical developments during the war, Nashville's experiment with legalized prostitution evolved as a practical solution to a military problem. Nearly one in 10 Union soldiers were reported to have contracted gonorrhea or syphilis during the war; rates were even higher for troops garrisoned in and around cities.
Here is the second excerpt...
Once deportation proved a failure, Granger and Spalding initiated a second, more radical solution. On Aug. 20, 1863, the Spalding released orders that required all of Nashville's prostitutes to register with the military government, which would in turn issue each woman a license to practice her trade. In exchange for a weekly fee of 50 cents, these women would receive a regular medical checkup, and if healthy, issued a certificate. Infected prostitutes would be hospitalized and treated at no additional charge. Failure to register would be penalized with a 30-day sentence in a workhouse.
Shockingly, legalization did not draw the same vitriol from the press that had accompanied deportation. The City Council delivered de facto endorsement of military regulation on Aug. 24, when Nashville's aldermen voted to "postpone indefinitely" legislation banning prostitutes "from riding in hacks with soldiers."
Here is the last excerpt...
A hospital for federal officers in Nashville, Tenn.Credit Library of Congress
Nashville's prostitutes embraced the new scheme. More than 300 licenses were issued in the first six months. By August 1864, Spalding had included black prostitutes in the program; of the 500-plus licensed prostitutes in Nashville, 50 were black women. Women took pride as they flashed their credentials and prominently displayed their health certificates. Observers also noted a decrease in street walking in favor of less-risky brothel work. Part of the licensing surge was attributed to an influx of prostitutes from Northern cities who perceived the increased safety and better working conditions provided by regulation.
Here is the link the NY Times article...
Link... http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/the-nashville-experiment/
.
Like I say you can find roots about or to almost anything in our Civil War history...
General Granger legalized and regulated prostitution to save the union army from STDs. In doing so, Nashville became the first place in the United States where prostitution was legally protected. In the summer of 1864 Memphis, TN. followed Nashville lead and legalize prostitution to save the union army. The experiment was consider a great success.
Here is a link to a paper from Tenn. U about prostitution in the civil war and chapter 3 is about the Nashville Experiment...
http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1306&context=utk_gradthes
Link NY TIMES... http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/the-nashville-experiment/
The Nashville Experiment
Here are some excerpts from the article in the NY Times
Like other radical developments during the war, Nashville's experiment with legalized prostitution evolved as a practical solution to a military problem. Nearly one in 10 Union soldiers were reported to have contracted gonorrhea or syphilis during the war; rates were even higher for troops garrisoned in and around cities.
Here is the second excerpt...
Once deportation proved a failure, Granger and Spalding initiated a second, more radical solution. On Aug. 20, 1863, the Spalding released orders that required all of Nashville's prostitutes to register with the military government, which would in turn issue each woman a license to practice her trade. In exchange for a weekly fee of 50 cents, these women would receive a regular medical checkup, and if healthy, issued a certificate. Infected prostitutes would be hospitalized and treated at no additional charge. Failure to register would be penalized with a 30-day sentence in a workhouse.
Shockingly, legalization did not draw the same vitriol from the press that had accompanied deportation. The City Council delivered de facto endorsement of military regulation on Aug. 24, when Nashville's aldermen voted to "postpone indefinitely" legislation banning prostitutes "from riding in hacks with soldiers."
Here is the last excerpt...
A hospital for federal officers in Nashville, Tenn.Credit Library of Congress
Nashville's prostitutes embraced the new scheme. More than 300 licenses were issued in the first six months. By August 1864, Spalding had included black prostitutes in the program; of the 500-plus licensed prostitutes in Nashville, 50 were black women. Women took pride as they flashed their credentials and prominently displayed their health certificates. Observers also noted a decrease in street walking in favor of less-risky brothel work. Part of the licensing surge was attributed to an influx of prostitutes from Northern cities who perceived the increased safety and better working conditions provided by regulation.
Here is the link the NY Times article...
Link... http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/the-nashville-experiment/
.
Like I say you can find roots about or to almost anything in our Civil War history...
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