please welcome taja-nia henderson. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you to jay barksdale and the new york public library for providing a space for a writer and researcher to use the library selections and also to have a quiet, serious place of contemplation. thank you for attending. i know the weather is not the best. i appreciate you being here. i have been for two years now knee-deep in congressional petitions. when i say knee-deep, i mean literally. there are three foot stacks of documents lined around the walls in my office. as a result, i am looking forward to some adult conversations. it is a pleasure to be here. i look forward to your questions and hope we can have a robust exchange today. in 1869, in alabama, a challenge of earlier state supreme court ruling on the grounds that the judges who had issued the earlier ruling had no lawful authority to serve on the bench. according to the plaintiffs, since the judges had no lawful authority they could not bind the litigants to their rulings. the 14th amendment specifically sections three req

taja-nia talks about what level of participation by confederates would cause section 3 to apply. this talk is about one hour and 10 minutes. >> we are pleased to introduce taja-nia henderson, a writer in the wartime study. she is an associate professor. she teache