Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett was an African American who was appointed United States Ambassador to Haiti in 1869.
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.
In nominating Bassett to become Minister Resident to Haiti (the title Ambassador would not be used by the U.S. until 1893), Grant appointed him as one of the highest-ranking blacks in the U.S. government.
Bassett’s accreditation to the “Black Republic” was no accident either.
