The Life and Times of Ebenezer BassettEducational Resources

Ebenezer D. Bassett1833 - 1908

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AN INTRODUCTION FOR STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS

This publication is the companion piece for Ebenezer D. Bassett, 1836-1908. This publication celebrates and remembers a quiet local hero and an American original during the centennial anniversary of his death. This project is about honor and memory. It is about remembering and recovering the life of a good man who had almost been forgotten. Researching this man was a wonderful journey and a joyful collaboration. We hope that in some small way this project will contribute to the education of all students in the Valley. Local history is all around us and it is so easily ignored and forgotten. The value of public education is often denigrated, disregarded, or taken for granted. Part of the purpose of this project is to share Ebenezer D. Bassett’s life with students, and celebrate the fact that universal public education from kindergarten to grade twelve is a right for every American child in our nation today. We want students to understand that education can be an individual’s most precious possession in an uncertain world. Once obtained education can never be lost or taken away.

Ebenezer D. Bassett was a local Derby boy who even as a child was recognized by prominent local citizens, such as Dr. Ambrose Beardsley and Col. William B. Wooster, as a bright and promising youngster who, regardless of race, was worthy of an education. This was in an age, long before our own, when education was the privilege of only a few. Education was certainly not an easy thing to achieve for a young boy of mixed race who was without wealth. Education was then a luxury that few could indulge in. Yet, in Derby, Connecticut, in the 1850s when equality for many was simply a dream, Ebenezer D. Bassett was given the opportunity to gain an education. He never forgot his beginnings, or this opportunity, or the community that gave him that opportunity. Though he surely experienced racial prejudice in his life, he just as surely believed in the American Dream. He was quoted later in life as saying:

“My success in life I owe greatly to that American sense of fairness which was tendered me in old Derby, and which exacts that every man whether white or black, shall have a fair chance to run his race in life and make the most of himself.”

2008 is the centennial year of the anniversary of Ebenezer D. Bassett’s death, and 2009 will be the bi-centennial year of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. On November 4, 2008, another Illinoisan, Barack Obama, would be elected the nation’s first black American President. All of these men would share common life threads including a belief in the value of education. The two black men would attain extensive formal education through tenacity and ability. Lincoln, though extremely able, would remain largely self-taught. In the very first public political statement Lincoln ever published in 1832, he spoke about books and learning and expressed the hope that “every man may receive at least, a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions.” (Davis, Lincoln’s Men, p.3) This publication celebrates the story of a life well lived and the events of our nation in which it was lived. The device of teaching history through biography, teaching students their lessons through the example of lives well lived, is an ancient one. Teaching through biography is as old as recorded history. When we teach about a life, however, we cannot ignore the context of the time in which that life was lived. This supplemental resource explores not only Ebenezer D. Bassett’s life but also the great and tumultuous times in the United States and world, in which he lived. Good teaching and learning cannot take place in a one dimensional box. Therefore, there are a variety of background materials and student activities to explore in this resource.

A Note on the Sources in this Educational Resource:

The complete bibliography for this project can be found in Ebenezer D. Bassett, 1833-1908.. In addition, the pages of this resource note sources and web references in the text where the information pertinent to them appears.

ON THE COVER AND IN THE NEWS

On the cover, courtesy of the New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a wood engraving of Ebenezer D. Bassett is from Harper’s Weekly, May 1, 1969. The picture and article announce Bassett’s groundbreaking appointment as Minister to Hayti (the 19th century spelling of Haiti). Bassett was the first black man in U.S. History to be appointed to such a diplomatic post. Although the term ambassador did not come into use until the early 20th century, Bassett’s historic ministerial appointment made him the first black ambassador from the U.S. Harper's Weekly (A Journal of Civilization) was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor. During its most influential period it was the forum of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast. By 1860 the Weekly’s circulation had reached 200,000. Illustrations were an important part of the Weekly’s content. Since Harper’s was published during a time when the technology to reproduce photos in a newspaper was non-existent, illustrations were made from woodcuts that reproduced the images whether they were photographs or works of art. Harper’s developed a reputation for employing some of the most renowned illustrators, notably Winslow Homer and Livingston Hopkins. Among its recurring features were the political cartoons of Thomas Nast, who was recruited in 1862 and would remain with the Weekly for more than twenty years. Nast was a feared caricaturist, considered by some the father of American political cartooning. He was the originator of the use of animals to represent the political parties—the Democrats’ donkey and the Republicans’ elephant—as well as the familiar character of Santa Claus who became a popular personality in the American Christmas tradition because of Nast’s illustrations. For more information on Thomas Nast’s life and times and his political cartoons see: http://www.thomasnast.com/default.htm

Being featured in Harper’s was the equivalent of appearing in TIME magazine or Newsweek today. Harper's Weekly began publication in 1857 and contained notable coverage of the US Civil War and New York's Tammany Hall. The first incarnation ceased publication in 1916. Brief revivals were made in the 1920s and 1970s. In 2000, an electronic Harper's Weekly Review, a weekly news roundup with links to material on the Harper's website, began. That form of the weekly continues to this day as a digital newsletter that is emailed out each Tuesday morning, Students can receive the weekly newsletter by signing up at the site below.

One of the most fascinating ways to learn about the Civil War is through the original pages of Harper’s Weekly. Students can log on to http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/the-civil-war.htm. The Archive at Son of the South has page scans of most of the issues, 1861-1965, published during the Civil War years and is an invaluable contemporary archive. Students can also log onto the new electronic newsletter of Harpers for coverage of current events from 2000-present at http://harpers.org/subjects/WeeklyReview .

• 1861-1865: An archive at Son of the South has page scans of most of the issues published during the Civil War Years.

• 2000-present: An archive at harpers.org has archives of the electronic newsletter incarnation.

Classroom Activity: Have students explore both of the above resources on the Internet, as well as several websites for contemporary newspapers and television news stations. In writing or through discussion have students compare and contrast the changes and differences between how news was received in the 19th century and how we receive it today. Have them discuss whether they believe that the news we receive is better, worse, or the same and how it impacts our lives in the 21st Century. What are the dangers and advantages to instant communications and broadcasts of today and the Internet? Being media savvy is an important part of citizenship. Effective citizenship entails making good choices and forming appropriate beliefs and opinions. Understanding the world in which we live and the events that shape it are as important today as in Ebenezer Bassett’s lifetime.

A Timeline of Events

Ebenezer D. Bassett’s Life Historical Events

Ebenezer’s grandfather Tobiah enlists to fight for Independence and is freed from slavery.

Ebenezer’s grandfather Tobiah is elected a black governor in Derby, CT.

Ebenezer D. Bassett is born in Litchfield County, CT.

From 1840-1845 Ebenezer’s father, Eben Tobias serves as a black governor in Derby, CT.

In the 1850’s Ebenezer D. Bassett pursues his education at the Birmingham Academy in Derby,

1619

1775

1781

1787

1791

1793

1804

1808

1815

1833

1839-1841

18401845

1849

1850

The first Africans arrive at Jamestown, VA; to be sold as servants in exchange for supplies.

The Revolutionary War begins.

The U.S. Constitution is adopted. “We the People” in 1787 are white, male, Protestant, property holders. Slavery remains legal in the U.S.

Revolution begins in Haiti with a slave revolt.

Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin.

Haiti declares independence and becomes the first Black Republic in the world.

Importing slaves into the U.S. becomes illegal. Slave traders ignore the ban on importing slaves; at least 15,000 Africans are illegally loaded onto American ships.

The State of Connecticut passes the “Black Laws.” Under these laws, in Canterbury, CT, Prudence Crandall is tried and convicted for educating black children. Her school is bombed and closed.

The Amistad revolt takes place. The African prisoners are transported to New Haven, CT and the trials take place in Connecticut Courts before the Amistad survivors win their freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Slave population in the U.S. reaches 2,482,546.

Slavery is abolished in the State of Connecticut.

The Fugitive Slave Act is passed in the U.S.

Connecticut, and Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, MA.

Ebenezer D. Bassett graduates from all white State Normal School of Connecticut (the oldest public university in Connecticut now Central Connecticut State University).

At Age 23, Bassett becomes Principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, PA, (Now Cheyney University of PA)

Ebenezer D. Bassett joins Frederick Douglass in recruiting Black Men for the Army in Philadelphia. He delivers a speech, “Men of Color, to Arms! Now or Never!”

President Grant appoints Ebenezer D. Bassett as Minister Resident to Haiti. Although the term ambassador does not come into use until 1893, Ebenezer Bassett becomes the first Black Ambassador from the United States.

1854

1855

1857

1859

1860

1861

1863

1865

1868

1869

1870

The Kansas-Nebraska Act is passed and the era of “Bleeding Kansas,” pro and anti-slavery violence erupts.

In the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford, the Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not U.S. citizens and that slavery was legal in the western territories.

John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry.

Lincoln elected president. South Carolina secedes from the Union.

The Civil War begins.

Emancipation Proclamation is issued. African American men allowed to enlist in the Union army.

Civil War ends. Lincoln assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution frees the slaves.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution grants citizenship rights to all persons.

The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution grants the right to vote to all men regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

U.S. History Classroom ActivityE Pluribus Unum

Linda Romano, 2008 Teacher of the Year and Social Studies Department Chair at Derby High School, Derby, CT, introduces her U.S. History students to the phrase E Pluribus Unum. She uses this phrase again and again throughout the year with her students. It’s an especially valuable technique to use before you teach the Civil War and into Reconstruction and through the Civil Rights era. This exercise helps students explore how our national identity evolved. It allows students to see what groups are included and have been excluded throughout our history beginning with the founders. “We the People,” in 1787 when the Constitution was ratified were white, male, Protestant, property holders. The years of our history since the Constitution’s ratification can be defined by the belief, and the struggle, and the becoming of all of us into “We the People.” We need to educate our students to the fact that it is our uniquely American beliefs that make us a nation. These intangible, strongly adopted and held beliefs, make us Americans and create our national identity. Ours is a precious and unique heritage in a harsh, exclusionary world.

TheThe Lesson of E Pluribus UnumLesson of E Pluribus Unum——Who are Who are We The People? We The People?

How “We the People” Became One Out of Many

Former President Jimmy Carter said, "We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." Jesse Jackson said,

"America is not like a blanket - one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt - many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven together by a common

thread."

E Pluribus Unum E Pluribus Unum OnOn--going Classroom Activitygoing Classroom Activity

Who are Who are ““We the People?We the People?””

Put the words E Pluribus Unum Put the words E Pluribus Unum on your board a the beginning of on your board a the beginning of your U.S. History Course.your U.S. History Course.

Define the words and discuss them Define the words and discuss them with your students.with your students.

Identify what groups are in and Identify what groups are in and what groups are out of power, and what groups are out of power, and why, during the time period you why, during the time period you are discussing.are discussing.

Use the phrase and this discussion Use the phrase and this discussion method with class throughout the method with class throughout the course in your course in your classroom soclassroom sostudents can see our national students can see our national identity evolve. identity evolve.

Lesson idea by Linda Romano. Words and format by Carolyn Ivanoff

STUDENT ACTIVITY

INTERPRETING VISUAL SOURCES

The picture below is from an 1860 book on the History of Slavery. It shows a contemporary engraving of a slave ship ready to depart on the “middle passage.” After examining the engraving, describe in writing what you see. Also describe how this diagram shows the inhumanity of the slave trade. . Why do you think that this illustration was made? What is it telling the viewer?

Who Are We?

Every person is an individual. Every individual is a complex personality formed by the forces of their family, environment, geography, and the time period in which they live. Below is Ebenezer D.

Bassett’s family tree from the time of his great grandparents, who were owned as slaves in Connecticut, up to the lives of his children. Ebenezer D. Bassett and his wife, Eliza, had no

grandchildren. Ebenezer D. Bassett was a man of mixed black and Native American heritage. You can learn more about his family, and local Valley history, by reading Chapter 2 in the biography accompanying this publication. Both Ebenezer D. Bassett’s grandfather and father were elected

black governors of their community. To learn more about Connecticut’s black governors go to the Connecticut State Library @ http://www.cslib.org/gov/blackgov.htm

Ebenezer D. Bassett’s grandfather, Tobiah, was granted his freedom for his service in the Revolutionary War. To find out more about Connecticut’s black soldiers of the Revolution go to the

Connecticut State Library @ http://www.hartford-hwp.com/HBHP/exhibit/03/2.html

Ebenezer D. Bassett was greatly influenced by his family’s commitment to education and public service, and his children would follow in his footsteps, committed to educating others.

Every family has a story. Using the blank family tree on the following page, trace your own family ancestry. What are the values, experiences, commitments, and beliefs of your family that contribute

to who you are?

Ebenezer D . B assett Family Tree

Charlotte L. BassettBorn 1832 or 1833

Died ?

Napoleon BassettBorn 1836

Died ?

Susan Gregory BassettBorn 1805 or 1806Died (after 1870)

Ebenezer (Eben Tobias)Born 1805 Died 1869

Laban(Samuel Riggs, owner)

Born 1759Died?

Tobiah(John W ooster, owner – Freed in 1781)

Born ? (1750s or 1760s) – Died ?

Rachael(John W ooster & Squire Bassett, owners)

Born ? (1760s or 1770s) - Died ?

Hagar(Rev. Mansfield, owner)

Pero(owner?)

Ebenezer D. BassettBorn Oct., 13, 1833Died Nov. 13, 1908

ChildrenCharlotte, b. 1856, d. 1912

Ebenezer D. b. 1858, d. 1922Iphigenia, b.1864, d. 1874

Lizzie, b. 1868, d. 1920Ulysses S., b. 1873, d. 1942

Olive, b. 1876, d. 1884Frederick Douglass, b. 1874, d. 1877

Wendell P. b. 1878, d. 1916

Eliza ParksBorn 1832Died 1895

Writing LettersPeople have been writing letters since written language began. Letters are written for all kinds of reasons. Letters are written to persuade, to praise, to condemn. In them we express ideas, describe events, travels, people, and love. In the days before typewriters, computers, phones, e-mail, text messages and other modern communication technology, if people weren’t close enough to speak face to face they needed to write. All writing took place by hand. In those days it was more important to write legibly than it was to spell well or punctuate. The most important factor in writing was making your message understood. That meant handwriting needed to be neat and legible. Schools taught handwriting as a course called Penmanship. In order to be able to get a good job, or to get ahead in any profession, you had to write neatly and well. If you were able to become an important person, you would have a secretary (almost always a man) who would write for you. One of the reasons Ebenezer D. Bassett was so successful was the fact that his handwriting was clear and neat. He was able to use words to communicate clearly and he wrote well.

Making and keeping copies of important documents has always been necessary. Only very special government documents or proclamations were copied on a printing press. Therefore, any copies, as well as the original document, had to be handwritten. Good handwriting was a must. Even today with all of the electronic communication methods we have available, a handwritten note is often the most precious communication we can receive especially if that note is expressing thanks, sympathy, congratulations, or love.

Writing ActivityFollowing this page are two examples of letters. One was written to congratulate Ebenezer D. Bassett on his appointment as minister to Haiti. It was written by the great Frederick Douglass in his own hand. Douglass was the most famous black American of the period. He had a secretary to write his letters, but he chose to congratulate Ebenezer D. Bassett in his own handwriting. This was a tremendous compliment; however, Douglass’s handwriting is hard to read so there is a printed copy of the letter as well. The second letter is from Abraham Lincoln to the headmaster of his son’s school. Lincoln is considered the greatest American letter and speech writer. He writes this letter describing what his hopes and expectations are for his son’s education. Like every parent, Lincoln wants the best education possible for his son. He wants his son to have the educational opportunities that he never had. Lincoln probably attended less than a year of formal schooling and was largely self-taught. Ebenezer D. Bassett was successful because he was able to pursue his education freely in Derby, CT. This was remarkable at a time when education was the prerogative of the wealthy or a chosen few. One of the goals of this project is to help students understand the value of education, that education opens doors and fulfills dreams. Read the letter. Think about what education means and what Lincoln wants his son to learn.

Your TaskAddress a letter to your teacher and explain what you want to learn and what you hope to gain from your educational experiences. Describe what your goals and dreams are and how you plan to use your education to achieve them. Remember, all good letters contain a date, a salutation, and a closing. All good letters contain details and explain clearly to the reader the ideas and thoughts the writer wants a reader to understand. Be sure to write a very good letter.

A Letter of Congratulations from Frederick Douglass to Ebenezer D. Bassett

Rochester, April 13, 1869

My dear Bassett:

Let me congratulate you and rejoice with you. Your appointment is a grand achievement for yourself and for our whole people. It forms an important point in the History of our progress and upward tendency. I have no doubt you see the importance of your position. As you shall acquit yourself in it wisely or otherwise, we shall be affected favorably or unfavorably. I should like much to see you before you go upon your mission – and if I do not I shall be glad to hear from you. My kind regards to Mrs. Bassett. Why can’t you both make me a few days visit before sailing--

Yours Truly, Frederick Douglass

A Letter from Abraham Lincoln to His Son’s Headmaster

My son will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true, but teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader... Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend. It will take time, I know, but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is of far more value than five found...Teach him to learn to lose...and also to enjoy winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick...Teach him, if you can, the wonder of a book...but also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hillside. In school, teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat...Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong...Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the bandwagon...Teach him to listen to all men...but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad...Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at

cynics and to beware of too much sweetness...Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders, but never to

put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob...and to stand and fight if he

thinks he is right.

Treat him gently, but do not coddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to

be impatient...let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then

he will always have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what you can do...He is such a fine little fellow, my son!

Biographical Notes on Personalities in Ebenezer D. Bassett

Reverend Richard Mansfield, the first resident Church of England clergyman in Derby, lived from 1724 to 1820 and served for 72 years, a period marking the longest rectorship recorded in the United States. He was born in New Haven and his father was a deacon in the Congregational Church. However, while studying at Yale he became interested in the Episcopal faith. In 1748, he sailed to England, was admitted to Holy Orders by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and swore an allegiance to the king, a decision that would later

cause him some difficulties at home. Upon his return to America, he was assigned to Derby. There he married Sarah Anna Hull in 1751. When the Revolutionary War broke out,

Dr. Mansfield found himself in an awkward situation since he had pledged his loyalty to the king. When a pro-British letter that he had written to British authorities in New York fell into the hands of patriots, he had to flee for his life to Long Island in 1775. He believed that the colonists should remain loyal subjects of the King of England as did many others in Derby at the start of the War! He fled Derby from his pulpit on a Sunday morning just ahead of a pursuing band of patriots who didn't take kindly to his pro-British sermons. Though he escaped safely to Long Island, while he was away, both his wife Anna and their infant daughter died while living in the Episcopal Glebe House Rectory. Following the war, he returned to Derby and took up his old rectorship at St. James' Church. The animosity prevalent because of his pro-British stance seemed to fade as the citizens turned to building their new country. Mansfield was a very active clergyman serving all of Derby including Seymour and Oxford. He died in 1820 and is buried in the old cemetery on Elm Street in Ansonia which had been the site of the first Episcopal church in the Valley. According to tradition a slave named Pero who had been captured and brought from Africa married a slave named Hagar belonging to Rev. Mansfield. These two slaves would become the great-grandparents of Ebenezer D. Bassett. For more information about Rev. Mansfield and other important personalities of Derby log onto: http://electronicvalley.org/derby/HallofFame/index.htm

Dr. Ambrose Beardsley was born in Monroe, CT. At the age of sixteen, he was a school teacher, but he continued his education and graduated from the Medical College in a Pittsfield, MA, in 1834. He arrived in Birmingham (Derby) in 1835 and established his life long practice there where he became know as the “Beloved Physician.” Besides the enormous respect that he earned as a doctor in Derby, he was also very active in the community. He was the town treasurer for 25 straight years, a warden of the borough and the registrar of vital statistics. He was involved in charitable and religious activities as well

and was a noted orator, frequently called upon for public occasions. He played the role of forensic scientist in helping to solve one of the worst cases of serial murder by a woman in U.S. history. Along with Reverend Samuel Orcutt, Dr. Beardsley wrote The History of the Old Town of Derby Connecticut, 1642-1880. For a time Ebenezer D. Bassett worked as an office boy for Dr. Beardsley. It was the good Doctor, along with Col. William B. Wooster, who recognized Ebenezer’s intelligence and ability and aided him in his education. For more information on Dr. Beardsley and other important personalities of Derby log onto http://electronicvalley.org/derby/HallofFame/index.htm

Colonel William Burr Wooster was a prominent local attorney in Derby when the Civil War broke out. When Lincoln called for the formation of the great three-year regiments of 1862, Wooster became the Lt. Col. of the 20th Connecticut. Company B was recruited almost entirely of Derby men. Col. Wooster gallantly commanded the regiment in the battle of Chancellorsville where he was taken prisoner and transported to Libby Prison. He was exchanged in time to lead the regiment again at Gettysburg. When the 20th was transferred to the Western theater, he went with it for a time. He then accepted command as full Colonel of

the 29th Connecticut Regiment. The 29th was the State’s own black regiment commanded by white officers who risked their lives to command. The Confederacy had vowed to execute any white officers leading black troops should they be taken prisoner. When the first colored regiment in Connecticut, the 29th

Regiment, was organized in 1864, Lieutenant-Colonel Wooster was selected by Governor Buckingham as its commander. The regiment was mustered into the service at New Haven, March 8, 1864. A few days before the organization left for the front, it was presented with a set of colors by the colored women of New Haven. Frederick Douglass made the presentation address. On March 20, the regiment left New Haven for the front. Under Colonel Wooster it won the proudest of records in the field. Its behavior at the capture of Fort Harrison was especially commended. It was also particularly mentioned for gallantry on the Darbytown Road, and at Chapin Farm, before Richmond. When the Confederate capital fell, the 29th was the first regiment to enter the city. Col. Wooster was born in Oxford, Aug. 22, 1821, and received a common school eductation at the South Britain Academy. He graduated from the Yale Law School in 1846. After the war he was a member of the law firm of Wooster, Williams & Gager. He also traveled extensively after the war, spending upwards of three years in Europe. He married Miss Jay A. Wallace later in life after the war. There were no children in the family. Wooster along with Dr. Beardsley recognized Ebenezer D. Bassett’s ability in the 1850s and assisted him with his education. After the war he paid tribute to Bassett’s participation in the recruitment of black troops for the Union Army. For more information on Col. Wooster and the 29th

Connecticut Volunteers log onto: http://www.oxfordpast.net/hp110.html; http://www.electronicvalley.org/derby/quiz/2008/Torrance,David.htm; http://civilwarstudies.org/articles/Vol_9/monument.htm; http://www.thect29th.org/index.html; http://www.cslib.org/wmwebb/index.htm

Ulysses S. Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885), was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869–1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War. Grant first reached national prominence by taking Forts Henry and Donelson in 1862 in the first Union victories of the war. The following year, his celebrated campaign ending in the surrender of Vicksburg secured Union control of the Mississippi and—with the simultaneous Union victory at Gettysburg—turned the tide of the war in the North's favor. Named commanding general of the Federal armies in 1864, he implemented a

coordinated strategy of simultaneous attacks aimed at destroying the South's ability to carry on the war. In 1865, after conducting a costly war of attrition in the east, he accepted the surrender of his Confederate opponent Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House. Grant has been described by J.F.C. Fuller as "the greatest general of his age and one of the greatest strategists of any age." His Vicksburg Campaign in particular has been scrutinized by military specialists around the world.

In 1868, Grant was elected president as a Republican. Grant was the first president to serve for two full terms since Andrew Jackson forty years before. He led Radical Reconstruction and built a powerful patronage-based Republican party in the South with the adroit use of the army. He took a hard line that reduced violence by groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Presidential experts typically rank Grant as one of the worst U.S. presidents, primarily for his tolerance of corruption. In recent years, however, his reputation as president has improved somewhat among scholars impressed by his support for civil rights for African Americans. Unsuccessful in winning the nomination for a third term in 1880, bankrupted by bad investments, and terminally ill with throat cancer, Grant wrote his Memoirs, which were enormously successful among veterans, the public, and the critics. For more information on Grant and other presidents log onto: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ug18.html

Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) The son of a slave woman and an unknown white man, "Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey" was born in February of 1818 on Maryland's eastern shore. He spent his early years with his grandparents and with an aunt, seeing his mother only four or five times before her death when he was seven. (All Douglass knew of his father was that he was white.) During this time he was exposed to the degradations of slavery, witnessing firsthand brutal whippings and spending much time cold and hungry. When he was eight he was sent to Baltimore to live with a ship

carpenter named Hugh Auld. There he learned to read and first heard the words abolition and abolitionists. "Going to live at Baltimore," Douglass would later say, "laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity." Douglass spent seven relatively comfortable years in Baltimore before being sent back to the country, where he was hired out to a farm run by a notoriously brutal "slavebreaker" named Edward Covey. The treatment he received was indeed brutal. Whipped daily and barely fed, Douglass was "broken in body, soul, and spirit."

On January 1, 1836, Douglass made a resolution that he would be free by the end of the year. He planned an escape, but early in April he was jailed after his plan was discovered. Two years later, while living in Baltimore and working at a shipyard Douglass would finally realize his dream; he fled the city on September 3, 1838. Traveling by train then steamboat then train he arrived in New York City the following day. Several weeks later he had settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, living with his newlywed bride (whom he had met in Baltimore and married in New York) under his new name, Frederick Douglass. Always striving to educate himself, Douglass continued his reading. He joined various organizations in New Bedford, including a black church. He attended Abolitionists' meetings. He subscribed to William Lloyd Garrison's weekly journal, the Liberator. In 1841, he saw Garrison speak at the Bristol Anti-Slavery Society's annual meeting. Douglass was inspired by the speaker, later stating, "no face and form ever impressed me with such sentiments [the hatred of slavery] as did those of William Lloyd Garrison."

Garrison, too, was impressed with Douglass, mentioning him in the Liberator. Despite apprehensions that the information might endanger his freedom, Douglass published his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written By Himself. The year was 1845. Three years later, after a speaking tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland, Douglass published the first issue of the North Star, a four-page weekly, out of Rochester, New York. Frederick Douglass would continue his active involvement to better the lives of African Americans. He conferred with Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and recruited northern blacks for the Union Army. After the War, for the rest of his life, he fought for the rights of women and African Americans alike. For more about Frederick Douglass and his life and times log onto: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html

François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (May 20, 1743–April 8, 1803) was an important leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born a slave in Saint-Domingue, in a long struggle for independence Toussaint led enslaved Africans to victory over Europeans, abolished slavery, and secured native control over the colony in 1797 while nominally governor of the colony. He expelled the French commissioner, as well as the British armies, invaded Santo Domingo to free the slaves there, and wrote a constitution naming himself governor-for-life that established a new government for the colony. Between the years 1800 and 1802, Toussaint Louverture tried to rebuild the collapsed economy of Haiti and reestablish commercial contacts with the United States and Great Britain. His rule permitted the colony a taste of freedom which, after his death in exile, was gradually destroyed during the successive reigns of a series of despots. Translated from French, his name means "the awakening of all saints" or "all souls rising.” Haiti would declare its independence from France on January 1, 1804. It would become the first black republic in the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Kentucky. The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, he sketched his life:

"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My

father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."

Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest." He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it." Lincoln believed secession illegal and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for

75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy, but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy. Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion. The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death the possibility of peace with magnanimity died. For more information on Lincoln and other American presidents log onto: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html

TALK SHOW!

Dear Talk Show Hosts and Guests:

Below please find directions for staging an academic talk show. Education in any subject consists not only of memorizing facts, but also of being well-read, well-written, and well-spoken. This exercise will cover both reading (research) and speaking. Choose any of the personalities from the Life and Times of Ebenezer D. Bassett or from the period of U.S. History covering 1830 to 1908. There are several mini-biographies highlighted in these resource pages to choose from, or consider an historic personality that you admire, or who made a contribution to our nation’s history during the life-time of Ebenezer Bassett. Remember Bassett’s long life spanned several distinct periods in U.S. History, from the antebellum years, the Civil War years, the Reconstruction years, and the years of Jim Crow, American Expansion and Imperialism. Bassett saw and experienced much in his long life from the mid 19th to early 20th centuries. These were rich time periods in U.S. History and provide a host of events and personalities to explore.

1) For this exercise everyone chooses a partner to work with. If our class has an odd number of students, there will be one group of three.

2) One partner will be the interviewer. One partner will portray a person whose life, theories, accomplishments, and contributions we have studied.

3) Working together, partners are to construct a three-minute question and answer session that will explore the person's life, theories, accomplishments, and contributions for being remembered as famous or infamous. Both partners should work together to create both questions and answers and should practice so that the interview proceeds smoothly in question and answer format.

4) Each group will conduct their interview session in the front of the class. BE SURE NOT TO IDENTIFY THE PERSON BEING INTERVIEWED BY NAME. THE OBJECT OF THE TALK SHOW IS TO CONSTRUCT AND ASK GOOD, INTELLIGENT, ACCURATE QUESTIONS TO SEE IF THE REST OF THE CLASS CAN GUESS WHO IS BEING INTERVIEWED.

5) You can use your text, the information in Ebenezer D. Bassett, plus at least one each of the following sources to construct your interview: encyclopedia, the Bassett book or resource pages, biography, articles, the Internet.

6) Document the sources you used to create the interview in a bibliography in good form (MLA format is recommended) that you hand in as a pair on the day of the interview. The bibliography should contain the name of the person researched at the top, the name of the interviewer and interviewee, and list at least four sources for your interview of an historic figure. Only one encyclopedia source may be used. If you are interviewing a character from your text book, or from the Ebenezer D. Bassett book, you should note the page numbers your questions and answers were developed from.

THE PERSUASIVE VISUAL ESSAY

In this activity students will create a persuasive pictorial essay to support or protest a point of view on a topic of importance or interest to them. Many of the political, governmental, and societal issues that were part of the fabric of the nation during Ebenezer D. Bassett’s life are still a part of our lives today. As we review current events issues, keep in mind that many of the ideas, trends, and situations we discuss have historical precedents in our history. Watch the news, read the paper, talk to your classmates. Compare and contrast current events with the events that affected Ebenezer D. Bassett’s life. Situations confronting us today, their relationships and roots to past philosophical, religious, political, and economic events, and our responses to them make the past relevant to the present. Many times we can understand the present more clearly by understanding the past. We in the 21st Century are still grappling with issues such as civil rights, equality, the meaning of freedom and how far it should extend, our nation’s role in world affairs, the economy, and the interpretation of the American Dream. These and other issues affected Ebenezer D. Bassett’s world as they continue to affect our own.

YOUR TASK: Take a position on an issue that you feel strongly about. Research the issue through a variety of sources such as the Internet, newspapers, magazines, etc. Your goal is to utilize images to create a persuasive pictorial essay. You may choose from a variety of visual delivery methods to present your essay including PowerPoint presentation, a poster, collage, mobile, or you may choose to create a political cartoon.

CHOOSING IMAGES: A pictorial essay is an image or combination of images and captions that can be very powerful in expressing and supporting a point of view. Your goal is to take a position on a topic, support your position, and make a powerful visual impact on the viewer. If you choose to do this through a collage or PowerPoint, you need to present a complete picture of the issue, including its causes, its effects, its seriousness, etc.—so you need to use images that show different aspects of the situation. Search for striking visual images in a variety of formats—new publications, magazines, political cartoons, the Internet, or you can create your own. Use a chart like the one below to help you classify and ultimately choose and arrange your images in poster format.

Title of Image Source Theme of Image ImpactStrong Weak

ORGANIZING YOUR IMAGES: The organization of your images is an important way to reinforce your message and help the viewer understand the message you want to convey. Here are some tips:

• Carefully choose your first and last images for overall impact and the strength of the message.• Consider whether you want to organize your images in chronological order/in contrasting

situations/in comparable situations, etc.

WRITING CAPTIONS: You will need to write captions using a few words for your images to explain how each image supports your position. Here are some questions to ask:

• Do your captions present a strong clear description/message of the image? (Will your audience see exactly what your position is?)

• Do all your images work together to illustrate your position?• Do your captions communicate your message and position?

PICTORIAL ESSAY RUBRIC

STUDENT:____________________ TOPIC:__________________________

Points Subtracted

1. The project is clearly marked with a title (if necessary to the topic) and a name. ______

2. The graphics are clearly descriptive of the project's content. ______

3. The project is presented in a visual, 3D, illustrated, or model formatallowing the viewer to instantly understand the message the creatorwishes to convey. ______

4. The visual aspects of the project are well organized so that theviewer has a good understanding of the project's focus. ______

5. The message is strongly and clearly depicted ______

6. The images work together to illustrate the injustice or reform ______

7. Any labels or written explanations on the project are clearand legible. ______

8. The spelling and grammar of any written explanations orlabels on the project are correct. ______

9. The content of the visual goes beyond a simple copy of a collage or various scenes and illustrates important aspects of the message the creator wishes to convey. ______

10. The project shows detailed effort to present a topic in current events, an issue that needs to be reformed, or an injustice. There is evidencethat it was prepared thoughtfully, carefully, and thoroughly to addressthe chosen topic well. ______

11. The project was handed in on-time . ______

PROJECT GRADE ________

COMMENTS:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH VOCABULARY

This resource contains a glossary of terms pertinent to the Ebenezer D. Bassett publication. Many of the words and terms in the glossary contain annotations directly relevant to Bassett’s life and times. In recognition of the fact that increasing literacy is the key to improving education and closing learning gaps, the State of Connecticut Department of Education has developed a literacy mandate in Beyond the Blueprint. At Shelton Intermediate School, one of our school improvement goals is a literacy initiative. The building Literacy Team has created and presented several professional development programs to enhance literacy instruction for our teachers and interdisciplinary literacy achievement for our students. Following this introduction, and preceding the glossary, are several research-based instructional vocabulary strategies. Two strategies are developed directly from the State’s Beyond the Blueprint. Sources for the Word Wall techniques are noted in the text for that strategy. The Shelton Intermediate School Literacy Team, and the faculty have identified a list of Common Core Vocabulary and created a Word Wall for All Subjects & CMTs which is displayed in each classroom. These identified words and strategies are embedded in regular instruction for all classes.

It is hoped that the techniques presented here will encourage teachers using the book with their classes to spend time on the vocabulary defined in the glossary. By creating a word wall, encouraging students to utilize a portable word wall to explore words they are not familiar with or cannot define, students will improve their understanding of the material and increase their vocabularies and literacy skills. Literacy is the key to life-long learning, a goal and a gift, for all students of all ages.

What is a Word Wall?A word wall (Cunningham and Allington 1994) is a displayed collection of words that support ongoing teaching and learning in the classroom. Words collected on the Word Wall could be high-utility words. These are words that are used often in an individual classroom. A high-utility Word Wall in math class would consist of math terms used throughout the year. A topical Word Wall consists of words related to a theme, text, or unit of instruction; for example, the Revolutionary War. (Allen, Janet, Inside W ords, T ools for T eaching Academic Vocabulary Grades 4-12,Stenhouse Publishers Portland, Maine, 2007).

Using Word Walls In Your Class• Have a word wall displayed in your class to help students

during reading, writing and oral classroom activities and to reinforce instructions for assignments and projects.

• Displayed word walls can help students spell better during academic writing assignments and help students choose words appropriately for their writing.

• The words on the wall must be integrated into classroom instruction.

• Portable word walls can help students doing assignments outside class (portable word wall forms attached, onewith the SIS Core Words embedded that can be added to and a blank form for subject specific, high frequency vocabulary).

• Encourage students to collect and add words to their portable word walls. Students can also draw diagrams or pictures in their word walls to help them remember the meaning or usage of the word.

Common Core VocabularyWord Wall for All Subjects & CMTs

BriefSupportEvidenceJustifyInformationDescribeMainlyDiscussSummarizeEvaluateAnalyzeCompareContrastSimilarities

DifferencesDraw ConclusionsExtendInterpretSynthesizeExamineIn General

Describe

Support

Compare

Analyze

Summarize

Discuss

Draw Conclusions

EvidenceInterpret

These are the foundation words for SIS provided for every classroom in word wall format.

Portable Word Wall SIS Core WordsName__________________Subject_________________

Y&ZXW VU

TS

Support

Summarize

Similarities

Synthesize

RQP

ONM

Mainly

LK

J

Justify

I

Information

Interpret

HGF

E

Evidence

Evaluate

Extend

Examine

D

Describe

Discuss

DifferencesDraw Conclusions

C

Compare

Contrast

B

Brief

A

Analyze

Portable Word Wall

Y&ZXW VU

TSRQP

ONMLK

JIHGF

EDCBA

Strategy I: Concept Definition MapBEYOND THE BLUEPRINT: Literacy in Grades 4-12 and Across the Content Areas,

Connecticut State Department of Education, 2007, pg. 66

USE: All Content Areas – All Grade Levels – Before Reading

FOCUS: Vocabulary

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION USE SEE: Schwartz and Raphael, 1984; Buehl, 2001

A word map is a diagram of a word’s meaning that includes what it is, what characterizes it and what are the examples of it. The purpose of a word map is to build personal meanings by connecting the new information with prior knowledge. It is a simple strategy that works well with content vocabulary.

PROCEDURE (begin by explaining and modeling)

1. The teacher selects or has students select a word to be exploredand places the word in the center of the word map.

2. The teacher asks students to determine a definition that best describes the word and write it in an appending box.

3. Next the students provide some words and/or synonyms.

4. The students then provide some specific examples of the word.

5. The teacher and students discuss the word map and relate it to the reading assignment.

6. Students read the text, revisit the map, and make modifications or additions.

7. The teacher closes this activity with a discussion of how students can use word maps in their own reading and learning.

Examples Definition

Synonyms

The Word

Strategy II: Knowledge Rating ScaleBEYOND THE BLUEPRINT: Literacy in Grades 4-12 and Across the Content Areas,

Connecticut State Department of Education, 2007, pg. 72USE: All Content Areas – All Grade Levels – Before ReadingFOCUS: VocabularyFOR DETAILED INFORMATION USE SEE: Allen, 1999This vocabulary activity introduces a list of potentially unknown content words to students. It is designed to help students

become aware of how much they may already know about the subject to which the words are related. By using this activity, teachers will be able to gauge the depth of the student’s existing knowledge and note what areas need special attention during instruction. This activity can be used with fiction or non-fiction.

PROCEDURE (begin by explaining and modeling)1. The Teacher selects a list of important vocabulary words from the new unit, story or chapter and writes them into a

knowledge rating scale chart (see below).2. The teacher divides students into mixed ability groups of three or four to provide opportunities to share background

knowledge.3. Students consider each word in the knowledge rating scale and place and “x” in the appropriate column next to the

word. The teacher should model and explain each category. For example, if they can define the word, they would place the “x” in the first column. If they have heard it or have seen it, but are unsure of the its meaning, they should place an “x” in the second column. If it is totally unfamiliar, they should place an “x” in the third column labeled “No Clue.”

4. After students have completed the chart, they can write definitions for the words they have marked in the “Can Define” column.

5. The teacher then leads the class in a discussion about the words for which students have definitions. As students read the chapter or story, the students are to add definitions for unknown words, or if appropriate, change the definitions they have written.

6. The teacher closes this activity with a discussion of how students can use knowledge rating scales in their own learning: SAMPLE KNOWELDGE RATING SCALE BELOW

Infatuated

Dilapidated

Maneuvering

No ClueHave Seen or HeardCan DefineWord

Word Knowledge Rating ScaleName:_______________ Subject:_____________

No ClueHave Seen or HeardCan DefineWord

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Abolition: The act of doing away with something permanently. The abolition of slavery. A person who fought to end slavery was called an abolitionist.

Annexation: To append or attach, especially to a larger or more significant thing. To incorporate (territory) into an existing political unit such as a country, state, or city. The U.S considered annexing Santo Domingo (present day Dominican Republic) until Congress voted against annexation in the 1890s.

Antebellum: This term is used to describe a time period occurring before a war, used most often to describe the period before the Civil War in the United States.

Asylum: This is a place of refuge, safety, sanctuary, shelter, or protection. Ebenezer D. Basset insisted that the American Consulate and its property in Haiti remain a safe haven for anyone who fled the political violence of Haiti’s many Civil Wars during his time as Minister Resident. Bassett saved many lives because he refused to allow violent forces to violate the principle of asylum.

Banish: To expel, send away, exile, deport, drive out. Often used in politics to remove or deport a former leader or person of power from a nation in conflict. Banishment may be used as an alternative to execution.

Bilious Attack: An antique medical term relating to or characterized by gastric distress thought to be called by a disorder of the liver or gallbladder. Such attacks could be deadly but were little understood in Bassett’s time. Therefore the term was used to describe numerous illnesses. Several times Bassett was so ill from “bilious attack” several times that it was feared he might die.

Black Codes: Regulations passed by Southern state governments during Reconstruction to prohibit African Americans from voting.

Black Governor: An elected office created by a traditional form of black government that began in New England during the colonial period. Although black men could not vote or hold office, they organized themselves into political communities and held elections for a “governor.” Though their powers were limited and unofficial the governors were important men in the community who judged disputes and imposed punishments usually fines. These governors were held in high regard by both the black and white communities. Ebenezer D. Bassett was the son and grandson of black governors from Derby, CT.

Black Law of Connecticut (1833): In the year of Ebenezer D. Bassett’s birth, Connecticut passed the Black Law. This restricted African Americans from coming into Connecticut to get an education and prohibited anyone from opening a school to educate African Americans from outside the state without getting a town's permission. Prudence Crandall, now the State of Connecticut’s official heroine, opened a school to educate black children in her home in Canterbury, CT. The Black Law made it illegal for her to operate the school. Crandall was jailed, tried, and persecuted for defying the Black Law. In 1834 violence against the school increased and an angry mob attacked and tried to burn the academy. After this incident Crandall decided that for the safety of her students she would close the school.

Census: The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated, or counted, every ten years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats (congressional apportionment), electoral votes, and government program funding. The first U.S. Census took place in 1790. A great deal of demographic data is also collected, and the U.S. Census is a rich resource of research data for all types of information.

Civil Rights: Fundamental rights, including life, liberty and property belonging to every member of society.

Colonization Movement: The ACS (American Colonization Society), founded in 1816 by Charles Fenton Mercer, was comprised of two groups, “philanthropists, clergy and abolitionist who wanted to free African slaves and their descendants and provide them with the opportunity to return to Africa, the other group was the slave owners who feared free people of color and wanted to expel them from America. By 1847, the American Colonization Society founded Liberia and designated it as the land to be colonized by all black people returning from the United States of America. Many blacks protested eloquently that they had been born in America and considered themselves Americans. In many cases their fathers had fought and shed blood for American freedom. They felt no connection to Africa and sought none. Their focus was on political recognition by the majority in the North and abolition of slavery in the South. By the time of the Civil War, black men were eager to fight for the Union because they rightfully believed that if the Union won the war, slavery would be abolished.

Consulate: The office of a Consul is termed a Consulate. During Ebenezer D. Bassett’s time it was a nation’s main representation in that foreign country. Today it would be called an embassy. In addition to being the official residence of the Minister Resident (ambassador), or counsel and his family, the consulate would have a compound with offices and other buildings for official business. During times of strife and civil war in Haiti, Bassett would champion the cause of political asylum for people seeking refuge at the consulate and would save many lives by holding to this principle. Today the embassy is a nation’s leading representation in a foreign country and consulates are satellites in various major locations of the foreign country.

Dereliction of Duty: Failure to obey an order or regulation. It means that one willfully, through negligence or culpable inefficiency, failure to perform one's expected duties.

Dignitary: A person who holds a high rank or office, as in the government or church. Dispatches: Official communications or messages transmitted through official and unofficial diplomatic channels. All Bassett’s dispatches had to be handwritten and communications were very slow. All of Bassett’s communications with the Secretary of State and the State Department in Washington, D.C., had to be transported by ship. This left long periods of time between requests and answers during times of emergency and crisis. The first transatlantic cable between the U.S. and Europe was laid in 1858. The connection was fragile, and it was not until 1865, the last year of the Civil War, and 1866 that transatlantic communications by telegraph became stable. There was no telegraphic connection with Haiti while Bassett was Minister Resident. To learn more about the role of communications in U.S. diplomacy during and after Ebenezer Bassett’s time go to: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/gp/17334.htm

Emancipation Proclamation: On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in Confederate-held territory. The Civil War then became a war to end slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation strengthened the Union cause internationally and isolated the Confederacy. Its issue prevented England or France from aiding the Confederacy. In 1865 the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would officially abolish slavery in the United States forever.

Exacerbate: To increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of (disease, ill feeling, etc.,); to aggravate, embitter, irritate.

Exile: Banish, send away, deport, expel, cast out. Like banishment above, often used in politics to remove or deport a former leader or person of power from a nation in conflict. May be used as an alternative to execution.

Faction: A group, section, party, splinter group, bloc, division.

Fifteenth Amendment (1870): The right to vote for all men will not be denied “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

Fourteenth Amendment (1868): All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and no State may make or enforce any law that will abridge the rights and privileges of citizens. All persons have a right to life, liberty and property. All persons have the right to due process and equal protection of the laws.

Hispaniola: The second-largest and most populous island of the Antilles, lying between the islands of Cuba to the west, and Puerto Rico to the east. It is located directly within the hurricane belt. The Republic of Haiti occupies the western third of the island, and the Dominican Republic the eastern two-thirds of the island. Christopher Columbus first arrived on the island in western Hispaniola (present day Haiti) on December 5, 1492.

Impeachment: Charging a public official with a crime in office for which they can be removed from power. Only the House of Representatives has the right to impeach the President. If the President is impeached he must face trial in the Senate. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over a presidential impeachment trial in the Senate.

Legation: A delegation, taskforce, group, embassy.

Mercenaries: Armed forces, a private army, or band of soldiers for hire.

Middle Passage: The forcible passage of African people from Africa to the New World, as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with commercial goods, which were in turn traded for kidnapped Africans who were transported across the Atlantic as slaves; the enslaved Africans were then sold or traded as commodities for raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the "triangular trade.” The term "Middle Passage" thus refers to that branch of the transatlantic trade in which millions of Africans were imprisoned, enslaved, and removed from their homelands.

Minister Resident: In Ebenezer D. Bassett’s time, his appointment as Minister Resident made him the highest ranking U. S. diplomat to Haiti. The term ambassador (the highest diplomatic rank) was not used by the U.S. until 1893. Years ago ambassador was a term reserved among major nations for their diplomats, or close allies. A major nation would probably send just an envoy to a minor nation, who in return would send an envoy to the major nation. As a result, the United States did not use the rank of ambassador until its emergence as a major world power. Until the mid-20th century the majority of diplomats in the world were of the rank of envoy.

Mole St. Nicholas: A town in the Republic of Haiti. It is the chief town of the Môle Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement in the department of Nord-Ouest. It is located on the site where Christopher Columbus landed on December 6, 1492 and founded the settlement of La Navidad. The town's fête day is December 6, to celebrate Columbus' arrival. During Frederick Douglass’s appointment as Minister Resident to Haiti, the State Department instructed him to negotiate a lease for the area for use as a coaling station for the U.S. fleet.

Monroe Doctrine: Issued under President James Monroe, on December 2, 1823, it stated that European powers were no longer to colonize or interfere with the affairs of the newly independent states of the Americas. The United States planned to stay neutral in wars between European powers and their colonies.

Nineteenth Amendment (1920): Women granted voting rights. “The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): The case where the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” public facilities were permissible under the Constitution.

Recession: Recession is defined as the time when business activity has reached its peak and starts to fall until the time when business activity “bottoms out.” When the business activity starts to rise again, it is called an expansionary period. By this definition, the average recession lasts about a year. The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters. A depression is a severe downturn in economic activity. Depressions are considerably worse than recessions. The old term for an economic depression was “panic” due to the reactions that occurred in the economic sectors and general population and the havoc they caused with peoples’ lives and well-being. Reconstruction: In the history of the United States, Reconstruction refers to the period between 1863 or 1865 and 1877 when the federal government focused on resolving the consequences and aftermath of the American Civil War (1861–1865). It is also the common name for the general history of the post-Civil War era in the former Confederacy between 1865 and 1877. Reconstruction addressed how secessionist Southern states would regain self-government and seats in Congress, the civil status of the leaders of the Confederacy, and the Constitutional and legal status of Freedmen (the freed slaves). After the Civil War, violent controversy erupted throughout the South over how to tackle such issues, as former Confederates organized in paramilitary groups to resist defeat, including secret vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. The Constitutional Amendments and legislative reforms that laid the foundation for the most radical phase of Reconstruction were enacted from 1865 until 1871. By the 1870s, Reconstruction had made some progress in providing the Freedmen with equal rights under the law, and Freedmen were voting and taking political office. Republican legislatures, coalitions of whites and blacks, established the first public school systems in the South. In 1877, President Rutherford Hayes withdrew federal troops, causing the collapse of the last three remaining Republican state governments. Starting in 1890, thirteen years after Reconstruction ended, southern states used disenfranchising statutes and constitutions to put in place devices, such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and the use of whites-only primaries. These extralegal means prevented most blacks from voting. By 1900 Southern white Democrats established a one-party rule and, enforced a system of racial segregation that continued in varying degrees throughout the South into the 1960s. Bitterness from the heated partisanship of the era lasted well into the 20th century.

Restitution: Compensation, recompense, reimbursement, making amends, repayment, refund, restoration, return, reinstatement.

Secession: (derived from the Latin term “secessio”) Is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. It is not to be confused with succession, the act of following in order or sequence. In U.S. History in 1861 eleven southern states left the Union and the Civil War began.

Segregation: The separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group from the rest of society.

Separate but Equal Doctrine: The arrangement once upheld by the Supreme Court, that separate public facilities were constitutional if the facilities were of equal quality.

Siege: A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition and/or assault. The term derives from “sedere”, Latin for "seat" or "sitting." A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a frontal assault and refuses to surrender. Several times while Bassett was Minister Resident in Haiti, rebel forces besieged the American compound where

people sought asylum. Bassett saved many lives because he insisted that he, as the ranking American diplomat, had the right to grant safety and asylum to those who sought refuge. Soirees: Exquisite parties with unique twists and personalized details, all effortlessly executed with style and grace. Ebenezer D. Bassett and his wife Eliza held numerous soirees in the American Consulate to bring factions together and to create social and political connections that would further American diplomatic goals.

Thirteenth Amendment (1865): Ended slavery forever in the United States of America

Underground Railroad: Neither underground nor a railroad, the underground railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. Members of The Underground Railroad often used specific jargon based on the metaphor of the railway. For example:

• People who helped slaves find the Railroad were "agents" • Guides were known as "conductors" • Hiding places were "stations" • Abolitionists would fix the "tracks" • "Stationmasters" hid slaves in their homes • Escaped slaves were referred to as "passengers" or "cargo" • Slaves would obtain a "ticket" • Just as in common gospel lore, the "wheels would keep on turning" • Financial benefactors of the Railroad were known as "stockholders". • The Big Dipper, whose "bowl" points to the North Star, was known as the “drinkin' gourd,” and

allegedly was immortalized in a contemporary song. The Railroad itself was often known as the "Freedom Train" or "Gospel Train," which headed towards "Heaven" or "The Promised Land"—Canada.

STUDENT ACTIVITY:

Journey to freedom at www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad

You’ll walk in the footsteps of the legendary Harriet Tubman, who shepherded hundreds of runaways out of slavery.

Selected Glossary Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org

Microsoft Word thesaurus tool

http://dictionary.reference.com/search

Center for Civic Education, We the People, The Citizen and the Constitution, sixth printing, 1999

www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad

NAME:_______________________________

DATE:_____________

EBENEZER D. BASSETT’S WORLD

D I S P A T C H I F P J S S NC F T Q A N T E B E L L U M RT O L E X A C E R B A T E D QE C N E J E I H J M H I G C AL N N S M E L I T A C S R O NY E I Q U A L D S S A E I L NL Z G R V L N I D L E G G O EI K H A T F A C X I P R H N XV V G H T C H T I E M E T I AI S P K W I O G E P I G S Z TC J C S I Z O D S H A A I A IS E I R A T I N G I D T V T OV E O R N O M L S O I I I I NJ J G Y S E C E S S I O N O SA B O L I T I O N F V N T N N

EXILELEGATIONIMPEACHEXACERBATEEMANCIPATIONDISPATCHCONSULATEDIGNITARIESCOLONIZATION

CIVIL RIGHTSANTEBELLUMANNEXATIONABOLITIONSECESSIONMIDDLE PASSAGEMONROE DOCTRINESEGREGATION

Word search created through: http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php

GEOGRAPHY

Below is a map of the West Indies from a school textbook on geography dated 1869. This map was printed and published the same year that Ebenezer D. Bassett was sent to Haiti (then spelled Hayti) as Minister Resident. This is the type of map that a student in school would use to study geography in the 1870s. Do you notice anything different from a modern map? A detail of the map appears below it so you can see Haiti more closely. Working with a partner, discuss different geographical aspects of the maps. After examining the map and discussing your observations write down ten geographical facts below:

1)_______________________________

2)_______________________________

3)_______________________________

4)_______________________________

5)_______________________________

6)_______________________________

7)_______________________________

8)_______________________________

9)_______________________________

10)______________________________

A MODERN MAP OF HAITI AND THE CARIBBEAN From: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/caribbean/

Ebenezer D. Bassett’s Hayti

In Bassett’s day, Haiti was spelled with the y. The two woodcuts below date from around 1860 and depict scenes from the agricultural life of the islands where coffee and sugar were the main exports in Ebenezer D. Bassett’s time. These are the types of scenes he would have been familiar with while living on Haiti. The scenes are peaceful ones; however, for almost the entire time Bassett lived in Haiti the country was in turmoil. Bassett fell in love with the island and the Haitian people. Even after he was recalled from his diplomatic post he devoted much of his life to serving Haiti in some way. Haiti is a beautiful place; however, it is located directly within the hurricane zone and often is the victim of ferocious weather and continuous civil unrest.

HAITI TODAY

Haiti (Haitian Creole: Ayiti, French: Haïti) is a Caribbean country that occupies the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola. The eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola is occupied by the Dominican Republic. The North Atlantic Ocean lies to the north, while the Caribbean Sea lies to the south. Haiti is a country with a troubled past, and its future still remains uncertain. Decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship have left it as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. The State Department continues to warn travelers against non-essential travel to Haiti. (Information from WikiTravel). Note to students: If you explore the Internet for information about Haiti, especially travel information, you will often encounter warnings similar to the one below.

WARNING: While the security situation has improved, political tension remains high and the country is still subject to criminal lawlessness. Looting, intermittent roadblocks set by armed gangs, and random violent crime including kidnapping, car-jacking, and assault remain commonplace. With the notable exception of Labadee, travelers to Haiti should remain alert and aware of their surroundings. (Labadee is a port in Northern Haiti. It is a private resort leased by Royal Caribbean International (RCI) for use by its Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruise line cruise ships.)

ACTIVITY: Explore Haiti the safe way and learn about the challenges facing the nation. An informative and sensitive virtual field trip can be taken at the CARE site at: http://www.care.org/vft/

haiti/.CARE is one of the world’s largest private humanitarian organizations committed to helping families in poor communities improve their lives and achieve lasting victories over poverty. CARE was founded in 1948 to provide relief to the survivors of World War II. This site is recommended in this publication for educational purposes only. It is not to be considered a solicitation for the CARE organization in any way. CAR CARE is one of the world's largest private international humanitarian organizations, committed to

The U. S. Department of State sponsors the "Doors to Diplomacy" educational challenge - to encourage middle school and high school students around the world to produce web projects that teach others about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy. http://www.state.gov/

p://www.state.gcommunities improve their lives a

nd achieve lasting victories over poverty. Founded

Ebenezer D. Bassett1833-1908

This Educational Resource is a Companion Piece forThe Ebenezer D. Bassett Publication

Funded by the Generous Financial Support of:

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Valley Neighborhood Grant ProgramPeoples United Bank

The Naugatuck Savings Bank FoundationThe John and Carrie Santangelo Foundation, Inc.

Educational Resources Developed and Created By:Carolyn B. Ivanoff

Project Team for Ebenezer D. Bassett:Mary J. Mycek

Marian K. O’KeefeCarolyn B. Ivanoff

Valley Historical Research CommitteeDerby, Connecticut

2008