HOW MANY BROTHELS WERE THERE IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1840'S
Prostitution in the United States
The regulation of prostitution in the United States is not among the enumerated powers of the federal government ; Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , it is therefore exclusively the domain of the states to permit, prohibit, or otherwise regulate commercial sex , except insofar as Congress may regulate it as part of interstate commerce with laws like the Mann Act .