User:Kaitlynmccall/sandbox

Holgate makes multiple references to God and the Bible throughout the narrative. The Creator engraved “distinguishing lineaments” on blacks and whites, but humans are mixing the two, which the narrator says is a “new invented specie, of which our Creator knows nothing”. The author also makes reference to the Bible verse that says “love thy neighbor.” This passage is also commonly known as the Golden Rule.

The Amalgamation process itself is also presented as a religion. The process takes place in a church, and the followers are offered "initiation into our holy fraternity." The followers, or disciples, are also referred to as "proselytes." The boiling process can also be looked at as a type of baptism.

An article in The Liberator outlined a similar imagined future as the "City of Amalgamation," in which "blacks and whites were mingling with perfect ease in social intercourse." Holgate's city was a racist take on this, as were Edward Williams Clay's anti-amalgamation political cartoons.