On April 3, 1851, a man who escaped slavery was grabbed off the streets of Boston and thrown into a carriage. He fought back, shouting to the crowd, but it didn't matter. Under a new federal law, even the North wasn’t safe.

The Fugitive Slave Act turned northern cities into hunting grounds. Freedom seekers were being captured, and ordinary citizens were being forced to help.

But across the North, resistance was growing. In Pennsylvania, a man named William Parker was building a network to fight back. When slave catchers came to his door, that resistance exploded into violence.

For more overlooked stories from the past, check out HISTORY This Week wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits for HISTORY This Week:
Producer/Sound Design: Ben Dickstein
Host/Producer: Sally Helm
The HISTORY Channel Executive Producers: Eli Lehrer, Liv Fidler
Back Pocket Studios Executive Producer: Ben Dickstein

HISTORY This Week is a Back Pocket Studios production in partnership with The HISTORY Channel

Special thanks to  Dr. Iris Leigh Barnes, director of the Hosanna School Museum; Christy Coleman, public historian and museum executive; Kellie Carter Jackson,  chair of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College; and Jamahl Wimberley, who provided the voice of William Parker.