A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil

by Jane Addams

Overview

Published in 1912 on the heels of Twenty Years at Hull-House and at the height of Jane Addams's popularity, A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil assesses the vulnerability of the rural and immigrant working-class girls who moved to Chicago and fell prey to the sexual bartering of what was known as the white slave trade. Addams offers lurid accounts -- drawn from the records of Chicago's Juvenile Protection Association -- of young women coerced into lives of prostitution by men who lurked outside hotels and sweatshops. Because they lacked funds for proper recreation, Addams argues, poor and socially marginalized women were susceptible to sexual slavery. Without radical social change they would perhaps be "almost as free" as young men. In addition to promoting higher wages and better living conditions, Addams suggests that a longer period of public education would deter young women from the dangers of city life.

Despite its appeal to middle-class readers eager for tales of sexual excess, the press and prominent intellectuals criticized A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil for being more hysterical than philosophical. Katherine Joslin's introduction considers the controversy that the book created; she also details Addams's skillful negotiations with publishers. In addition, behind the sensationalism of the narratives, Joslin locates themes that include the commodification of sex and the importance of marriage for young women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481253659
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	12/14/2012
Pages:	88
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.18(d)

About the Author

Jane Addams (1860 - 1935) was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace. Beside presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, she was the most prominent reformer of the Progressive Era and helped turn the nation to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, public health, and world peace. She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed the vote to be effective in doing so. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities. She is increasingly recognized as a member of the American pragmatist school of philosophy. In 1931 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	ix
	Preface	1
1.	As Inferred from an Analogy	3
2.	As Indicated by Recent Legal Enactments	9
3.	As Indicated by the Amelioration of Economic Conditions	26
4.	As Indicated by the Moral Education and Legal Protection of Children	45
5.	As Indicated by Philanthropic Rescue and Prevention	64
6.	As Indicated by Increased Social Control	82
	Index	101