White slavery is a Progressive Era term used to loosely describe the entrapment, transportation, and supply of women and children for the use of sexual slavery. Many of the women who were part of white slavery were forced into this trade against their will. These women and children were enslaved into prostitution and transported domestically within the United States and internationally. Efforts to control white slavery can be seen as early as the 1870s in the United States, but little was done to enforce it. No truly significant legislation or enforcement occurred until the early 20th century. White slavery induced fear among women in the United States. Stories have circulated through the media of women and girls being kidnapped and brought to the United States and forced into prostitution. In the early 20th century, progressives in the United States believed in denouncing and eradicating white slavery. In 1910, the passage of the Mann Act was initiated in an effort to prevent the transportation of women for immoral purposes. The beginning of the 20th century in the United States of America saw great changes politically, economically and socially. From 1900 to the 1920s, population growth was seen in most of the nation's major urban cities. Business was booming and so was immigration. People from all over the world have attempted to move to the United States in hopes of finding decent-paying jobs. Fear spread among citizens of the United States due to the increase in immigrants. One particular group that was harmfully feared was women of Asian descent. For women in the United States, the beginning of the 20th century can be considered exciting, changing, and progressive. American culture was... middle of paper... prostitutes rarely served Asian men and interracial marriage was outlawed in many states (CA?) (191) Japanese women became the American reformers' project of change. By 1900, American reformers and governments were examining the white slave movement more closely. Much of the white slave legislation was designed for major cities on the East Coast, but those in the West were included in these life-saving reforms. Reform groups included religious, feminist, and public health groups. Through white slavery, various groups that traditionally operated independently of each other came together. These anti-white slavery reform movements occurred in the midst of immigration, creating further efforts to help protect immigrant women in major cities from the entrapment of sex work. In return, white Native Americans associated white slavery with immigration. (204).