Street Diplomacy in the Nineteenth Century

Labeled as “the most northern of southern cities” by one historian, Philadelphia hosted street battles over slavery throughout the period, which is the focus of my new book, “Street Diplomacy.” These battles took many forms, from fugitive slave rescues and the kidnapping of free blacks to vicious riots that led to the wanton destruction of black Philadelphia. These conflicts at the street level in Philadelphia became inextricably fused to state and national politics, as white politicians’ ability to classify enslaved African Americans both as property and as human beings represented a fundamental tension throughout the United States.