In the years leading to the publication of "A Sojourn in the City of Amalgamation," racial tensions were rising in the United States. In 1831, Nat Turner led a revolt that led to the death of 51 white people, raising racial tension not only in the southern region, but in the entire country. The fear of future uprisings and bloodshed caused a rise of anti-abolition sentiment in the south. In 1833, the British Parliament enacted the Slavery Abolition Act which was titled "An Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves." This act caused tension in the United States with the northern states hoping the country would follow Britain's lead and the southern states fighting against it. Also in 1833, William Lloyd Garrison led the organization of the American Antislavery Society, that, within five years, had 250,000 members. The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society—an integrated abolitionist group led by Lucretia Mott, Harriet Forten Purvis, and Grace Bustill Douglass—was founded in 1835. Together these and other abolition groups bombarded Congress with antislavery petitions in 1835. The rise in abolitionist activity resulted in anti-abolitionist, or pro-slavery, activity, such as this text.