Editing Brownsville, Tennessee (section)

=== Reconstruction ===
Through the late 19th century, whites worked to re-establish [[white supremacy|supremacy]] after Reconstruction and impose [[Jim Crow]] and second-class status on African Americans. Tennessee effectively [[disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|disenfranchised most blacks]] in the state after the turn of the 20th century, excluding them from the political system and destroying what had been a competitive system. The state's congressional delegation and elected officials became predominantly white [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] with the exception of [[East Tennessee]], where white Republicans formed the majority. The region of yeomen farmers had been mostly Unionist-leaning during the Civil War.

Brownsville was struck by the [[Lower Mississippi Valley yellow fever epidemic of 1878|yellow fever epidemic of 1878]].<ref name=":4" /> The city saw 844 reported cases of the disease and suffered more than 200 deaths.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |title=Yellow Fever Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=194149 |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Members of the [[Howard Association]] supplied much needed assistance to Brownsville during this time.<ref name=":14" /> Many victims of the epidemic were buried in Brownsville's Oakwood Cemetery. Due to the limited workforce available to bury each victim individually, several of them were buried in an unmarked mass grave.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oakwood Cemetery – Brownsville, Tennessee |url=https://brownsvilletn.gov/live/oakwood-cemetary/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>