Congress Passes Mann Act to Combat “White Slavery”
Congress on this day passed the White Slavery Act, popularly known as the Mann Act, to fight interstate prostitution. The law made it a crime to transport across state lines “any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” (The law was named for Rep. James Mann of Illinois.)
It was a sign of the cultural and racial politics of the time that the law applied only to the transport of women and had the title, “White Slavery Act.” The law interfered with the right of unmarried people to cross state lines and to have sexual relations; because its terms were so vague and potentially expansive, for decades it was enforced in a highly arbitrary manner.
A number of prominent Americans fell victim to prosecution. They included the famed African-American boxer Jack Johnson (convicted in a racially motivated prosecution); the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright (charges dropped in 1926); silent film star Charlie Chaplin (acquitted in 1944); and rock and roll star Chuck Berry (convicted in 1962 and sentenced to three years in prison for transporting a 24-year-old).
Learn more: David Langum, Crossing Over the Line: Legislating Morality and the Mann Act (1994)
Read about the passage of the Mann Act here
Learn more about the history of the Mann Act here
See the Ken Burns film on boxer Jack Johnson and the Mann Act, “Unforgiveable Blackness.”
Learn about Chuck Berry’s prosecution under the Mann Act here
Read the full text of the law.