In 1853, Eyre Crowe, a British artist, visited a slave auction in Richmond, Virginia. His painting of the scene was later exhibited at the Royal Gallery in London in 1861.  In her book, Slaves Waiting for Sale, Maurie McInnis describes the impact this pivotal painting had on the British public at the outbreak of the American Civil War. Greg Kimball talks about an exhibition of art dealing with the American slave trade.  Also: Jonathan White says many Union soldiers were not for re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and were in fact pressured to vote for him.

Later in the show: 1619 was the year the first Africans arrived in North America. Many were Christians with European names like Jean Pedro and Angela, and some came from cities. Scholars Linda Heywood and John Thornton discussed the lives of these first Africans at Norfolk State University’s 1619: The Making of America conference. Also: Recently discovered essays by an anonymous writer who called himself “The Humourist” are now being hailed as some of the best essays in America’s colonial period. Brent Kendrick reveals the real identity of the author.