John Jea was an African-American writer, preacher, abolitionist and sailor, best known for his 1811 autobiography The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher.
28 Facts About John Jea
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John Jea was purchased and held by a Dutch couple, Oliver and Angelika Triebuen.
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John Jea's masters were members of the conservative Dutch Reform Church, which were against converting enslaved people to Christianity around the time they bought Jea.
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John Jea associated the religion with the violence of his master, for his master viewed himself as a pious man yet was capable of cruelty, which illustrates the oxymoronic nature of a Christian slave holder.
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In retaliation, John Jea quoted the Bible within his narrative about how "God is love, and whoso dwelleth in love dwelleth in God" as a query to his master's cruelty.
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Alongside renouncement of his master's claims, John Jea thanked God for his meals, despite his master's attempt of proclaiming himself as God and be the one thanked.
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John Jea was freed on the basis of being a faithful, baptized Christian though his enslaver initially refused to heed to the court order.
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Beforehand, his former enslaver tried to convince John Jea to continue working under him because the Bible told him that John Jea is to remain as his slave.
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John Jea put the book up to his ear and tried to hear the book talk, but he could not hear a word.
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John Jea claimed that the book spoke to him telling him that it will teach him how to read the Holy Bible in both English and Dutch.
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John Jea tried persuading his family to seek freedom much like how he sought his.
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John Jea saw this as a sign from God to continue being a minister.
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John Jea did this through an organized manner where he and other preachers made rotations for each week.
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John Jea then married a Maltese woman named Charity who later died.
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John Jea initially made use of a methodist style of preaching during his itinerancy.
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John Jea was wary of including antislavery sentiments for fear of the violence that might be invoked from pro-slavery lobbyists.
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John Jea then worked as a cook on ships traveling around North America, the East and West Indies, South America, and Ireland.
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John Jea decided against working on a US warship and preaching the gospel there because it clashes with his Christian ideologies.
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John Jea traveled around northern France for four years before his eventual release at the close of the Napoleonic Wars.
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From Hodges' knowledge, John Jea failed to compromise to participating in the war, which he described as sinful, and returned to England where he settled in Portsea around 1815.
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Later, John Jea married his fourth wife Jemima Davis in 1816 and had a child named Hephazabah, who was later baptized in an Anglican chapel.
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Hanley speculates that John Jea had his daughter baptized in an Anglican chapel, despite the numerous Methodist churches nearby, because he was in a rush to attend the Grand-Parade' located in St Helier, Jersey.
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John Jea was one of the first African-American poets to have written an autobiography.
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John Jea's autobiography was written in Portsea between 1815 and 1816, but was largely unknown until it was rediscovered in 1983.
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Indeed, Jea describes his acquisition of literacy as the result of a miraculous visit from an angel, who teaches him to read the Gospel of John.
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John Jea described their deaths as a result of their blasphemy.
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However, a sharp contrast between the two is that Jonah tried to disobey God, whereas John Jea obeyed Him and sought to preach in England as directed.
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Similarly, the two shipmates who mocked John Jea for praying were promptly sent to their deaths.