'Philadelphia: The Great Experiment' focuses on racial tension in the 1800s

Nineteenth-century Philadelphia is often characterized as a center of abolitionist thought and a haven for Southern slaves seeking freedom.

But that is a simplification, as we learn from the latest installment of Philadelphia: The Great Experiment, an ongoing half-hour documentary series produced by Philadelphia entrepreneur Sam Katz's History Making Productions.

It will air at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on 6ABC.

Titled "Disorder: 1820-1854," the sixth installment of the 13-part series explores the racist sentiment widespread among working-class whites who felt displaced by the city's growing number of free blacks. It was a sentiment that often led to mob violence.

"Many of these people were the children of people who fought in the Revolution and they felt they had earned their rights" as citizens, Katz said. "To them, African Americans as well as European Catholic immigrants didn't deserve the same rights."

The Industrial Revolution brought immense changes to the country that increased disorder and tension, Katz said.

"The period we're covering in this episode was probably the most violent and disorderly period in the city's history," he said. "There was a riot almost every year."

Unlike Boston, far from Southern plantations, Philadelphia sat on the border between North and South - it was just a few miles from two slave-owning states, Delaware and Maryland.

"The majority of the city's population was pro-slavery," said series director Andrew Ferrett. "But it was also a place that attracted leading abolitionists, so the city became a battleground between the two sides."

African Americans lived a precarious life - they were targeted daily simply for entering public spaces. Regardless of their wealth or social position, black men and women were fair game.

The episode profiles one of the country's wealthiest business owners, James Forten, whose family was attacked. They did not receive any protection from the authorities.

The conflict came to a head in May 1838, when Pennsylvania Hall, a grand edifice built by abolitionists, was burned to the ground three days after its inauguration. That same year, Pennsylvania revoked the right of free black men to vote.

"How are you free if you don't feel safe walking down the street?" asked the University of Delaware's Erica Armstrong Dunbar, one of the advisers on the documentary. "Black men felt uncomfortable in public. . . . These are fears we still talk about today."

tirdad@phillynews.com

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Philadelphia: The Great Experiment

Episode Six, "Disorder: 1820-1854"

7:30 p.m. Thursday on 6ABC.

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