Following the American Civil War, the 13th Amendment prohibiting enslavement and the period of Reconstruction had profound impacts on U.S. foreign policy. For the first time, African American men were elected or appointed to federal government positions, including top diplomatic posts. Ebenezer Bassett and Frederick Douglass served as two of the first Black U.S. Ministers to Haiti, the world’s first Black republic.

Join Global Minnesota and the National Museum of American Diplomacy to learn more about these trailblazing African American diplomats during Reconstruction and the emergence of the Jim Crow era. In addition, Dr. Alison Mann will discuss how the abandonment of domestic Reconstruction had deep consequences on U.S. foreign policy.