Parson Brownlow
![Parson Brownlow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/William_Gannaway_Brownlow_2.jpg)
Beginning his career as a Methodist circuit rider in the 1820s, Brownlow was both censured and praised by his superiors for his vicious verbal debates with rival missionaries of other sectarian Christian beliefs. Later, as a newspaper publisher and editor, he was notorious for his relentless personal attacks against his religious and political opponents, sometimes to the point of being physically assaulted. At the same time, Brownlow was successfully building a large base of fiercely loyal subscribers.
Brownlow returned to Tennessee in 1863 and in 1865 became the war governor with the U.S. Army behind him. He joined the Radical Republicans and spent much of his term opposing the policies of his longtime political foe Andrew Johnson. His gubernatorial policies, which were both autocratic and progressive, helped Tennessee become the first former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union in 1866, "exempting it from the lengthy federal military reconstruction inflicted on most of the South".
Soon after the Civil War, Brownlow utilized the state government to enfranchise male African-American former slaves with the right to vote and run for public office in Tennessee. Soon after, ex-Confederate political leaders and military officers used the Ku Klux Klan and likeminded vigilante groups to disenfranchise African-Americans. Provided by Wikipedia
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2by Humphrey, SteveOther Authors: “…Brownlow, William Gannaway…”
Published 1978
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