Ebenezer D. Bassett: Connecticut's connection to Haiti and champion of human rights
Bassett served as the first-ever Black man to serve in an American diplomat position and was the fourth ever diplomat to Haiti.
February is Black History Month and FOX61 is looking at notable Black history figures from Connecticut.
Ebenezer D. Bassett was the first Black man to serve as a diplomat for the country and the fourth U.S. ambassador to Haiti once the two countries normalized relations in 1862.
Early Life
Bassett was born free on Oct. 16, 1833, and grew up as slavery was gradually dismantled throughout Connecticut. In 1784, Connecticut passed an act of Gradual Abolition. It stated that those children born into slavery after March 1, 1784, would be freed by the time they turned 25. As a result, slavery in Connecticut was practiced until 1848. Bassett was a descendant of African slaves, mixed and Native American heritage.
His father and grandfather were elected as Black governors in 1815 and 1840, respectively. Black governors became a tradition in the mid-1750s, according to the Museum of Connecticut History. It was thought that slaves would be brought to Hartford by their owners for the yearly election of the colony's governor. Thus, slaves would also choose a person to become a reader of their community as well.
As the Black population in Connecticut grew, the journey to Hartford became more difficult. The position of governor soon became localized as Black residents began to elect a person who lived nearby to lead their communities.
Bassett was a scholar who was exceptionally good in math and communications. When he was younger, he worked in an office in Derby while making contributions to his local newspaper, The Derby Journal. He attended Wilbraham Academing in Massachusetts after he completed his initial schooling in Derby.
In 1852, Bassett attended the Normal School, now known as Central Connecticut State University.
According to CCSU's biography on Bassett, he excelled at the school, which was still in its infancy as a school for teachers. Bassett completed the program in the shortest time allowed: One year.
CCSU said there was no recorded discrimination towards Bassett as he enrolled as the first Black student. According to his biography, "none of the earliest records distinguished Bassett's identity or confirmed protest against Bassett's enrollment as a Black student teacher in a school designed to instruct New Britain's public school students."
Bassett also grew to be a friend to Frederick Douglass, who had warmly recommended him to President Ulysses. S. Grant for the title of Chief of Mission to Haiti.
Haiti
The year 1862 not only saw the Emancipation Proclamation by then-President Abraham Lincoln but also marked a turning point in American diplomatic history as Lincoln became the first U.S. president to recognize the Republic of Haiti formally. Before then, the United States had refused to recognize Haiti, fearing slave rebellions.
"My appointment would be hailed by them, especially by recently enfranchised colored citizens, as marked recognition of our new condition in the Republic and an auspicious token of our great future," Bassett wrote. He became the first ever Black man to become an American diplomat.
After his appointment in 1869, Bassett (36 years old at the time) arrived in Haiti with his wife and four children. The country was torn by its civil war at the time as Haitian President Sylvain Salnave had seized power in a coup two years prior and was struggling to keep it.
The outgoing American Minister, a white man appointed by Lincoln named Gideon Hollister, warned Bassett of the violence.
But that didn't stop Bassett from becoming a champion of human rights.
As Salnave's government began to crumble, around 3,000 refugee men, women, and children from the capital flooded Bassett's 15-acre compound seeking refuge.
The U. S. Secretary of State at the time, Hamilton Fish, had told Bassett to remain neutral in the political fight and to inform the refugees that "[the U.S. government] cannot assume any responsibility for them."
But, without any direction from Washington D. C., Bassett instead quickly negotiated with the new government to ensure the safe passage of the refugees to their home, telling the new Haitian President Jean-Nicolas Nissage Saget "that the holding of women and children as hostages is repugnant to modern civilization and especially to the government of the United States."
Bassett then personally escorted the refugees into Port-au-Prince and ensured their safety.
Bassett grew to be a protector of refugees' right to asylum.
In May 1875, a new Haitian President, Michel Domingue, began a military crackdown on civilians and officials. Bassett watched as fighting broke out again, and soldiers targeted civilians in the streets, including children.
Shortly after the renewed fighting began, former Haitian General Pierre Boisrond Canal and his brother arrived at Bassett's home, pleading for protection.
Bassett let the men in and wrote a 21-page letter to Fish explaining the situation and why he had taken the action he did.
Fish reportedly responded angrily, writing back, "It is regretted that you deemed yourself justified by an impulse of humanity to grand such an asylum. You have repeatedly been instructed that such a practice has no basis in public law and, so far as this government is concerned, is believed to be contrary to all sound policy.
But Bassett didn't give up.
For five months, Bassett stood against the pressures from Washington and the Haitian government and refused to expel Canal from home.
He said to Fish that his conscience would not allow it.
“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," Bassett wrote at the time.
Eventually, Domingue relented under Bassett's negotiations and agreed to commute Canald's death sentence to banishment and allowed Bassett to escort Banal to a U.S. ship that was bound for Jamaica.
"Refugees amicably embarked and soldiers withdrawn from around my home," Bassett told Fish.
Bassett served in his post as Minister to Haiti for eight years, resigning at the end of Grant's presidency.
He never served in American diplomacy again, but in 1879, Haitian President Lysius Solomon appointed Bassett as Haitian consul in New York City. He held the position until 1889 when he resigned in protest due to American merchant ships illegally running arms to Haitian rebels.
Life After Haiti
Bassett returned to his family in Connecticut, and Yale University invited him to speak, where he delivered a speech titled "The Right of Asylum."
Bassett served in various positions until his death in 1908. When President Harrison was elected, Bassett tried to serve in his old position but his old friend Frederick Douglass was offered the job. Due to Douglass' age and lack of diplomatic experience, Bassett supported Douglass as his secretary.
After Harrison lost to Grover Cleveland in 1892, the country fell further into the grip of Jim Crow, and Bassett fell into debt. Eliza, Bassett's wife of 40 years, died three years later.
In 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, there were fears that the U.S. would annex Haiti. Bassett was appointed vice-consul general by the Haitian government and held the position until his death.
By the time Bassett died, he was living quietly away from public life in Brooklyn, New York.
He, Eliza, and all of his children lie together in the family plot in the Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven.
Bassett is known for triumphing over inequality, living an exemplary life devoted to education and human rights, and being the first Black diplomat of the United States.
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Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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