26 Facts About Jacobus Capitein

In 1737, after his graduation, Jacobus Capitein won a scholarship to study at Leiden University, joining the university's theology department.

Jacobus Capitein wrote a dissertation in 1742 which defended slavery on Christian grounds and received a positive reception after it was published in text form.

Jacobus Capitein soon joined the WIC and was sent as a chaplain to Elmina Castle in Western Africa.

The man who would become known as Jacobus Capitein was born c in Elmina, which was part of the Dutch Gold Coast.

Jacobus Capitein later wrote that he regarded his relationship with van Goch as that of a father and son.

Once Jacobus Capitein had set foot on Dutch soil, due to there being no Dutch laws positively recognising the existence of chattel slavery he was "conferred freedom by default".

However, Jacobus Capitein continued to remain in van Goch's household, joining him when he moved to The Hague to settle down as a retiree.

At the Gymnasium Haganum, Jacobus Capitein studied Hebrew, Latin, and Greek for six and a half years.

In 1737, when Jacobus Capitein was nearing graduation, he delivered a public lecture praising the role of Christian missions.

Jacobus Capitein subsequently published the lecture, titling the work as On the Calling of the Heathen.

Jacobus Capitein, who was most likely studying a master's degree at Leiden University, studied there for three years.

The dissertation, which was dedicated to Jacobus Capitein's burgher patrons was a proslavery work which supported Dutch involvement in slavery by offering three key religious arguments in favour of it.

Jacobus Capitein had written about his desire to pursue missionary work in his 1742 treatise, and entered into the employ of the WIC, which had a need for Christian chaplains in Elmina Castle.

Jacobus Capitein eventually decided to travel to Elmina, a decision which was supported by the Dutch Reformed Church, which had ordained him for that specific purpose.

Jacobus Capitein was charged by his superiors with ministering to the Dutch merchants, clerks and soldiers in the employ of the WIC who were stationed in Elmina Castle.

Jacobus Capitein began efforts to minister to the local African population, using various methods that he had analysed and expounded in his previous writings.

Jacobus Capitein established separate places of worship for African Christians, preached sermons using native languages, maintained daily contact with new converts, and trained local neophytes as missionaries.

Jacobus Capitein engaged in numerous enterprises while in Elmina, though none were successful.

Parker noted that as Elmina was a major hub of the Atlantic slave trade, it was a "distinct possibility" that Jacobus Capitein was involved in slavery in some form, though no definite proof exists to tie him to the trade.

Jacobus Capitein died in debt, owing large amounts of money to several local creditors.

Jacobus Capitein rejected arguments which justified the enslavement of Africans due to their cultural and racial differences with Europeans, and insisted that Christian slaveholders give fair treatment to those they enslaved, including potentially manumitting them.

Historians have given several assessments on why Jacobus Capitein chose to expound proslavery views.

Historian Joseph K Adjaye noted that Capitein had never travelled to any of the Dutch colonies in the Americas and as such had to rely on second-hand accounts as to the condition of plantation slavery there, while academic Tinyiko Makulele argues that since much of Capitein's time was spent in proximity to the WIC, he imbibed their proslavery views.

Similar to his frosty relationship with the WIC, Jacobus Capitein frequently conflicted with the Dutch Reformed Church while in Elmina, a strong contrast with the warm relationships he enjoyed with them while in the Dutch Republic.

Some who held racist views argued that his life was proof that Black people ought to be forbidden from being baptised into the Dutch Reformed Church, while others claimed that Jacobus Capitein's writing skills and mastery of European languages demonstrated that Africans and Europeans were equals.

In Elmina, Jacobus Capitein established a children's school and orphanage for Gold Coast Euro-Africans; both the school and the orphanage continued to operate after his death, though they were eventually shut down.