1998 Ford Escort Acting like it will stall

My car is making a sudden jerking whenever I shift gears. It reminds me of when I was learning to drive a manual for the first time and you almost stall the car and it suddenly decelerates multiple times to avoid a stall. This usually happens when I start from a stop and I will start rolling and then usually a second or 2 later the braking motion will happen. It happens much more often and more violently in gears 1-3, but it will occasionally happen in the higher gears. If I hit the gas and build up the RPM high before lifting off the clutch pedal it seems to help alleviate the problem, this makes me wonder if somehow the car “thinks” it is going to stall even when it shouldn’t be close ie at 2000 rpm after shifting into 4th. Any help with this would be appreciated.