Ebenezer Bassett

Ebenezer D. Bassett (1833- 1908) was an African American appointed US Minister to Haiti in 1869, making him the first black American diplomat.

As the first African American to lead a diplomatic mission, Ebenezer Bassett emerged as his very nation arose from the ashes of civil war. An educator, abolitionist, and black rights activist, Bassett would fittingly take the helm as the U.S. diplomatic envoy in 1869 to the “Black Republic” of the Western Hemisphere -- Haiti. Through eight years of bloody civil warfare and coups d'état, Bassett served with distinction, courage, and integrity in one of the most crucial, but difficult postings of his time. Haiti was of strategic importance in the Caribbean basin for its shipping lanes and as a naval coaling station. Throughout those tumultuous years, Bassett kept the rocky relations on solid ground.

Early life

Bassett’s rise from an obscure educator and the grandchild of a slave to become the first black man to head a U.S. mission was implausible given the racial turmoil of the 19th century.

Born in Connecticut on October 16, 1833, Ebenezer D. Bassett was the second child of Eben Tobias and Susan Gregory. Though slavery was still legal in the state at the time of Ebenezer Bassett’s birth, the free black community had a strong tradition of owning their own property, running their own businesses, and playing important leadership roles. Even among this community, the Bassetts would stand out. Both his father Eben Tobias, as well as his grandfather Tobiah, had the distinction of being elected “Black Governor” in Connecticut, an unofficial honorific among the black community.

Both Ebenezer’s parents were free blacks in Connecticut and ensured that their son would receive the finest education possible. In something almost unheard of in the mid-1800s even for white students, Ebenezer Bassett attended college in his home state. In fact, he became the first black student to integrate the Connecticut Normal School in 1853, almost a century before the Brown v Board of Education case held that segregation in public schools was illegal. He later began teaching in New Haven and became friends with the legendary abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.

Educator and activist

Soon Ebenezer was offered the chance to really make his mark (and a salary of $700) to teach at a progressive new all-black high school in Philadelphia. At the age of just twenty-two, he was bursting with enthusiasm and energy to make a positive difference in the lives of black citizens teaching at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY). The ICY, which would later become Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, was one of the early schools dedicated to educating black youth in the country. There he focused on Latin, Greek, mathematics and science, becoming principal after only one year. But Philadelphia, like the rest of the country, was soon dragged into the bloody Civil War.

Bassett became one of the city’s leading voices into the cause behind that conflict – the liberation of millions of black slaves. In spite of the controversy, Ebenezer Bassett opened the doors of ICY to become a locale in the city for recruiting black soldiers. He hastened to invite in many of the national civil rights leaders that now had become his close contacts. Just days after the bloody battle of Gettysburg, Bassett and other black leaders organized a recruiting drive for black soldiers. Bassett had the honor of being the second speaker of the night, presenting a resolution and making his speech immediately preceding the great Frederick Douglass. He was now 30 years old.

"Men of Color, to Arms! Now or Never! This is our golden moment. The Government of the United States calls for every able-bodied colored man to enter the army for the three years' service, and join in fighting the battles of liberty and the Union. A new era is open to us. For generations we have suffered under the horrors of slavery, outrage, and wrong; our manhood has been denied, our citizenship blotted out, our souls seared and burned, our spirits cowed and crushed, and the hopes of the future of our race involved in doubts and darkness. But how the whole aspect of our relations to the white race is changed! Now, therefore, is our most precious moment. Let us rush to arms! Fail now, and our race is doomed on this soil of our birth."

His remaining years as an educator and black activist would cement his position in the abolitionist community. It was of little surprise that when war hero, Ulysses S Grant, came into the White House, he looked for black leaders like Bassett to fill important political positions. Douglass repaid Bassett’s courage and dedication to racial equality by recommending Bassett to his political allies in the White House.

Diplomatic career

In nominating Bassett to become Minister Resident to Haiti (the title Ambassador would not be used by the U.S. until 1893), he became one of the highest ranking black members of the U.S. government. His accreditation to the “Black Republic” was no accident either. Though Haiti had gained its independence from France in 1804, it was not officially recognized by the United States until 1862. Southern resistance to the former slave colony becoming a “nation” had kept rightful recognition at bay. But with the Union victory, it was time to move from simple recognition to raising bilateral relations with the symbolic appointment of Bassett.

Upon arrival in Port au Prince, however, Bassett found that his new home was also torn by civil war. Having no experience internationally, the thirty-six year old Minister Resident ironically found himself as one of the most powerful figures in the country. Though he soon realized that much of the work diplomacy involved intangibles, he came to understand that his duties were “not so onerous as delicate. Common sense and some little knowledge of law…will carry me through,” he optimistically wrote to his friend Frederick Douglass, soon after his arrival.

Nevertheless it would certainly require more than common sense to navigate the treacherous waters of the Haitian war. These were times before cables could instantly transmitted messages to every corner of the globe. More often messages passed between Washington and embassies the old fashioned way: handwritten letters. At a time when it took days for diplomatic instructions and despatches to reach their intended audience, two things were of utmost importance - accuracy in reporting and good handwriting. Bassett possessed both of these attributes, and his memos back to Washington displayed a quick grasp of the unfolding political situation on the island. Given the amount of time it required for Washington to receive this reporting, however, Bassett knew he would be forced to act first and ask for forgiveness later.

During his tenure the American Minister Resident also dealt with cases of citizen commercial claims, diplomatic immunity for his consular and commercial agents, hurricanes, fires and numerous tropical diseases.

Canal crisis

The case that posed the greatest challenge to him, however, was political refugee General Pierre Boisrond Canal. The general was among the band of young leaders that had successfully ousted the former President Sylvan Salnave from power in 1869. By the time of the subsequent Domingue regime in the mid 1870s Canal had retired to his home outside the capital. The new Haitian President, Michel Domingue, however, brutally hunted down any perceived threat, including Canal.

The knock that came to Bassett’s door at 3:00 am in May of 1875 shattered the illusion of any settlement in the latest uprising. As the proud Canal and his two young relatives staggered into his home and humbled themselves by asking for protection, Bassett’s best instincts took over. Looking at the weary, terrified men and knowing that Domingue’s army was probably just steps behind them, he shut the door and guaranteed to provide the three with the delicate veil of protection that diplomatic immunity offered.

After seeing that his new “guests” were given food, water, medical care, and clothing, Bassett must have sat with his head in his hands thinking of how he would explain this to a displeased Secretary of State Hamilton Fish in Washington. “It may be that the instinct for humanity got the better of me,” he wrote. “The men before me were not my personal friends. They had never visited my house before, nor I theirs. I had no merely personal interest in them,” he noted in his letter days later to Secretary Fish.

The crisis dragged on for several days before the American was able to pen his first memo back to Washington. Reflecting on all that was still unfolding, Bassett hand-wrote a twenty-one page despatch to the Secretary of State. The envoy remained optimistic for an eventual cooling of passions, however. He had dealt with numerous cases of refugees in the past, some taking weeks to resolve. But the consummate diplomat had always been successful. Still, things seemed different this time around. “I must confess,” he wrote to Fish, “that the presence of a thousand armed men around my country residence…with discontent stamped on their faces and Henry rifles in their hands does not quite give the best possible ground to my hope.”

Not once asking about his well-being or to offer any words of support, Fish responded by berating his Minister. He noted that the Haitian Ambassador in Washington, Stephen Preston had been complaining about the refugees.

Fish wanted simply to be rid of this problem as quickly as possible. However he did not force his envoy to just hand over the refugees; to do so would be a capitulation to the Haitian demand and American prestige required more. Despite incurring the wrath of his superiors in Washington, Bassett put all of his credibility on the line:

“I am not unaware that the ground taken in my several despatches…may not be in accord with the requirements of public law… but circumstances seemed to crowd in upon me without warning, and in such a way as to leave me almost no choice. Men maddened by passion, inflamed, as I am credibly informed, by rum, and elated by consciousness of armed power, were pursuing their fellow countrymen with red-handed violence. To have closed my door upon the men pursued would have been for me to deny them their last chance of escape from being brutally put to death before my eyes.”

It was not simply a matter of humanity that led Bassett to throw the protective cloak over his asylees. He was also keenly aware that he could not give one inch in this staring match. To give in would invite a rampaging mob to overrun his home and all the consulates under the American flag.

As a result of the standoff, Bassett’s home remained surrounded by over one thousand soldiers. The nightly rhythm of loud taunts and screams, beating of metal objects, and general nuisance kept the family huddled inside trying to gain a few hours of restless sleep. Bassett first raised the idea of sending a U.S. warship to Haiti in his May 8th despatch, first reporting the incident. He argued at the time that such a show of force would exert “a wholesome influence” and strengthen “our own moral force” in resolving the matter. As the conflict dragged on for weeks, with both Bassett and Domingue digging in their heels, Washington only sat paralyzed. The diplomat continued to plea for a warship through the summer. But Fish’s pique at his Minister and his continued dithering discussions with Ambassador Preston, who lobbied hard against sending a ship, left the situation in a quagmire.

In spite of the displeasure it caused in both capitals, Bassett’s heroic stance won him supporters among the Haitian people. The whole affair energized popular opinion in favor of the United States and made Canal into a cult hero. “The prevailing sentiment is unmistakably in favor of [Canal] , and in our favor, because we have firmly protected him against violence,” Bassett wrote. No doubt part of that support for both Canal and Bassett was because of the brutality with which the regime continued to act against any and all presumed opponents. Political arrests and killings continued, and Bassett concluded, “the awful fact stares me in the face that we are all under a reign of terror.”

By summer’s end, it looked like Secretary Fish had finally had enough. Perhaps a more visible threat, he concluded, would cause the Domingue regime of crack. “It has been determined to apply to the Navy Department to order a man of war to Port au Prince with a view to your protection from insult,” Fish wrote to Bassett. “That the embarrassing question adverted to may be satisfactorily adjusted before she arrives, is much to be desired.”

In fact, just as the ship was preparing to leave, Haitian Ambassador Preston rushed in to tell Fish that Domingue was ready to capitulate. Bassett could escort Canal safely out, if only the warship would turn back and not enter Haitian waters. Fish agreed and instructed Bassett that a deal had been set. Though Ebenezer had made that same request repeatedly for months, he took it as a welcome relief when he finally received the news.

Finally, just after midnight on October 5, 1875, Canal embraced Bassett and boarded an American-flagged ship, which set sail for Jamaica and his safety.

It had been over five months that Canal had been held captive as a refugee inside the Bassett home. The next day the American diplomat telegrammed the Department informing them that the crisis had finally passed: “Refugees amicable embarked and soldiers withdrawn from around my premises yesterday.”

Later life

Though he undoubtedly paid a price by having irritated the powers that ran the State Department, he nonetheless stood up to both the Secretary of State and the brutal Domingue dictatorship. By demanding humane treatment for an honorable Haitian citizen, Ebenezer Bassett served not only the best interests of the United States, but also of the people of Haiti.

Upon the end of the Grant Administration in 1877, Bassett submitted his resignation as was customary with a change of hands in government. In spite of any lingering resentment that may have existed in Washington because of his defiant stance, it was impossible for the Department not to recognize Bassett’s work.

Acting Secretary of State F.W. Seward wrote to Bassett, thanking him for his years of service:“I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without expressing to you the appreciation of the Department for the very satisfactory manner in which you have discharged your duties of the mission at Port au Prince during your term of office. This commendation of your services is the more especially merited because at various times your duties have been of such a delicate nature as to have required the exercise of much tact and discretion.”

When he returned to the United States, he spent an additional ten years as the Consul General for Haiti in New York City. Prior to this death in 1908, he returned to live in Philadelphia, where his daughter Charlotte taught at the ICY. Unfortunately, unlike his peers who broke the color barrier in other professional fields, Ebenezer Bassett was soon forgotten with the passing of time.

Ebenezer D. Bassett was a role model not simply for his symbolic importance as the first African American diplomat. His concern for human rights, his heroism, and courage in the face of threats from Haitians as well as his own capital place him in the annals of great American diplomats. Most importantly, Bassett’s work as a politically-appointed diplomat forever altered U.S. foreign policy. For the first time, a nation founded on the principle that “all men are created equal” would have as its representative abroad someone who had previously been less than equal under the law. This movement toward equality and democratization of foreign policy would neither be quick, nor perfect. However it proved to be a force impossible to turn back, and carried implications for both domestic and international relations in the years ahead, including the wider acceptance of blacks in U.S. foreign policy.

For further reading, the biography of Bassett, entitled Hero of Hispaniola can be found at: http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C35195.aspx

References

* Teal, Christopher. "Hero of Hispaniola - America's First Black Diplomat, Ebenezer D. Bassett." Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2008

* School Records for Ebenezer D. Bassett, Central Connecticut State University Library, Special Collections.

* “Addresses of the Hon. W. D. Kelley, Miss Anna E. Dickinson, and Mr. Frederick Douglass, at a mass meeting, held at National Hall, Philadelphia, July 6, 1863, for the promotion of colored enlistments.” Philadelphia, PA, 1863, African American Pamphlet Collection (Library of Congress).

* Bassett to Douglass, July 3, 1869, Series: General Correspondence 1869,The Frederick Douglass Papers, Library of Congress.

* Hayti, Bassett to Fish, May 8, 1875, M 82, roll 7, Department of State Despatches, National Archives.

* Hayti, Bassett to Fish, May 19, 1875, M 82, roll 8, Department of State Despatches, National Archives.

* Hayti, Bassett to Fish, May 8, 1875, M 82, roll 8, Department of State Despatches, National Archives.

* Hayti, Bassett to Fish, June 8, 1875, M 82, roll 8, Department of State Despatches, National Archives.

* Hayti and Santo Domingo, Fish to Bassett, September 7, 1875, File 77, roll 96, Diplomatic Instruction of the Department of State, National Archives.

* Hayti, Bassett to Fish, October 12, 1875, M 82, roll 8, Department of State Despatches, National Archives.

* Hayti, Bassett to Fish, October 5, 1875, M 82, roll 8, Department of State Despatches, National Archives.

* Hayti, Evarts to Bassett, October 5, 1877, File 77, roll 96, Diplomatic Instruction of the Department of State, National Archives.

* Jackson-Coppin, Fanny. Reminiscences of School Life, and Hints on Teaching. Philadelphia, Pa., L. J. Coppin, 1913, Page 172.

Additional Reading

* Dockett-Mcleod, W., "Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett: A Biographical Sketch of America's First African-American Diplomat". 1994.

* Teal, Christopher. "Hero of Hispaniola - America's First Black Diplomat, Ebenezer D. Bassett." Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2008.