Our map of the historic district of Fredericksburg, VA showed a spot where the slave auction block still stood. We arrived there and looked around, then looked down on this.
It wasn't what I expected - nothing like what I saw in the movie "12 Years a Slave".
Did enslaved men, women and children have to stand on this small block?
I went searching the internet and came across this blog that had several posts about the auction block. The author did find contemporary texts stating that the block was used to elevate slaves being sold. Read his entry that I linked to above if you want to learn more about this block.