And we continue with our American Stories.

Here again to tell another great story is the Jack Miller Center's editorial officer and historian, Elliot Trago. The Jack Miller Center is a

trusted partner of our American stories, and they're a nationwide network of scholars and teachers

dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles and history.

Take it away, Elliot.

In the heart of Philadelphia, a runaway mother desperately held her infant son close as she matched wits with a ruthless slave catcher. The mother,

born Betsy Galloway, escaped from her enslavement in Maryland in 1845 with the help of a free man named William Thompson.

Galloway soon married Thompson, changed her name to Catherine Thompson, and eventually settled in Burlington County, New Jersey,

where she gave birth to a son, Joel, in 1847.

The Thompson family lived in relative safety in New Jersey, though the thought of her prior

enslavement must have haunted her, for black Americans across the north often fell prey

to determined enslavers, ruthless kidnappers, and unflinching slave catchers.

Catherine Thompson was far from safe.

Two years later, a black man named James Frisbee Price appeared at the Thompson's doorstep, claiming that he was a lost hunter. Taking pity on the man, the Thompson's welcomed him into their home and made fast friends with Price. A few weeks later, Catherine Thompson received an invitation from Price to visit him and his wife in Philadelphia.

But when she arrived at the Price household, she realized Price's ruse and found herself face to face with the notorious slave catcher,

Philadelphian George Alberti Jr. Black Americans like Catherine Thompson faced a precarious freedom living in the Annabellum

North.

Despite its history of abolitionism, the forces of slavery still lurked across the state

of Pennsylvania, labeled as, quote, the most northern of southern cities by one historian.

Philadelphia hosted street battles over slavery throughout the 19th century.

These battles took many forms, from fugitive slave rescues and the kidnapping of free black Americans,

to vicious riots that led to the wanton destruction of Black Philadelphia.

...