Ebenezer Bassett
Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett (October 16, 1833 – November 13, 1908) was United States Ambassador to Haiti from 1869 to 1877. He was the first African American diplomat and the fourth U.S. ambassador to Haiti since the two countries established relations in 1862. His mother was Pequot. From 1857 to 1869 he was the principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia.
Ebenezer Bassett | |
|---|---|
| United States Minister Resident to Haiti | |
| In office 1869–1877 | |
| President | Ulysses S Grant |
| Preceded by | Gideon Hiram Hollister |
| Succeeded by | John Mercer Langston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 October 1833 Derby, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | 13 November 1908 (aged 75) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse | Eliza Park (m. 1855) |
| Children | 8 |
| Alma mater | Connecticut Normal School (now Central Connecticut State University) |
Ebenezer Bassett was appointed as new leaders emerged among free African Americans after the American Civil War. An educator, abolitionist, and civil rights activist, Bassett was the U.S. diplomatic envoy in 1869 to Haiti, the "Black Republic" of the Western Hemisphere. Through eight years of bloody civil war and coups d'état there, Bassett served 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.