Jacobus Capitein
Encyclopedia
Jacobus Elisa Johannes Capitein (born ca. 1717; died 1747) was a Dutch
Christian minister of Ghanaian
birth who was one of the first known sub-Saharan Africans to study at a European university and one of the first Africans to be ordained as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church
. He is credited with spreading the use of the written word in his native Ghana .
Though a former slave, Capitein wrote a dissertation defending the right of Christians to keep slaves.
in 1725, at the age of 8, and sold as a slave to a Dutch captain, Arnold Steenhart. That same year, Steenhart gave him as a present to Jacobus van Goch, a trader of the Dutch West India Company
.
At the age of 11, in 1728, Capitein was brought to Holland to live with van Goch in The Hague
. Van Goch treated him as an adopted son and gave him the last name of Capitein (Dutch
for "captain"). Jacobus was placed in school and found to excel in the study of painting, reading and writing, mathematics and the classical languages. Capitein, who was baptized
by the Dutch Reformed Church
in 1735, let it be known that he wished to return to Africa as a missionary
. His adopted father therefore allowed him in 1737 to attend the venerable University of Leiden in order to study theology
and become a minister.
It is not clear whether Capitein actually received his doctorate with this dissertation, as he is not listed in the university's archives.
, the hub of the Dutch slave trade along the Gold Coast
(present-day Ghana). After a short tour of the Netherlands, where he was celebrated as the "black minister", he left for Elmina. However, his duties as minister and missionary proved difficult. The white slave traders did not like him because he was black and because he did not approve of the slave traders' extramarital affairs. Contact with the other Africans was difficult because Capitein had become too Dutch, and his efforts to baptize the local population proved fruitless. To improve his contact with the Africans, Capitein proposed a marriage with a local girl, but the church did not approve of a marriage to a "heathen" and instead found him a Dutch bride, Antonia Ginderdros, whom he wed in 1745 – the first wedding among the Europeans at Elmina.
Although he had little success as a missionary, Capitein did manage to set up a school and an orphanage at Elmina. His greatest success came in 1744 when Opoku Ware I
, king of the Ashanti, requested that Capitein educate his children. Capitein tried to send the children to the Netherlands to be educated, but this was not allowed. However, one of the princes, Gyakye, was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Dutch republic, carrying a gift of ten elephants' teeth.
The primary goal of Capitein's thesis was to encourage baptism of Africans by arguing that Africans could be baptized yet remain slave. Capitein thereby presented a counterargument to Godefridus Cornelisz Udemans, a Dutch minister who had argued that slaves should be freed seven years after they were baptized. This would have effectively rendered baptism a non-option, because slave owners were eager to keep their assets and would therefore not have allowed their slaves to be baptized.
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
Christian minister of Ghanaian
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
birth who was one of the first known sub-Saharan Africans to study at a European university and one of the first Africans to be ordained as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
. He is credited with spreading the use of the written word in his native Ghana .
Though a former slave, Capitein wrote a dissertation defending the right of Christians to keep slaves.
Early years
Capitein, whose African name is unknown, was forcibly taken from his parents in present-day GhanaGhana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
in 1725, at the age of 8, and sold as a slave to a Dutch captain, Arnold Steenhart. That same year, Steenhart gave him as a present to Jacobus van Goch, a trader of the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
.
At the age of 11, in 1728, Capitein was brought to Holland to live with van Goch in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. Van Goch treated him as an adopted son and gave him the last name of Capitein (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
for "captain"). Jacobus was placed in school and found to excel in the study of painting, reading and writing, mathematics and the classical languages. Capitein, who was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
by the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
in 1735, let it be known that he wished to return to Africa as a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
. His adopted father therefore allowed him in 1737 to attend the venerable University of Leiden in order to study theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and become a minister.
Dissertation
During his time at Leiden, Capitein did not challenge the general attitude towards slavery in the Dutch republic. In his dissertation De servitude, libertati christianae non contraria on March 10, 1742, he defended slavery as niet strydig tegen de christelyke vryheid ("not in conflict with Christian liberty"). He stressed that a slave who becomes a Christian does not need to be freed, and that slave owners therefore should allow their slaves to be baptized.It is not clear whether Capitein actually received his doctorate with this dissertation, as he is not listed in the university's archives.
Missionary
His defense of slavery made him popular with the Dutch East India Company, and he was appointed minister of the fort of ElminaElmina
Elmina, is a town in the Central Region, situated on a south-facing bay on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Ghana, about 12 km west of Cape Coast...
, the hub of the Dutch slave trade along the Gold Coast
Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea was a portion of coastal West Africa that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1598...
(present-day Ghana). After a short tour of the Netherlands, where he was celebrated as the "black minister", he left for Elmina. However, his duties as minister and missionary proved difficult. The white slave traders did not like him because he was black and because he did not approve of the slave traders' extramarital affairs. Contact with the other Africans was difficult because Capitein had become too Dutch, and his efforts to baptize the local population proved fruitless. To improve his contact with the Africans, Capitein proposed a marriage with a local girl, but the church did not approve of a marriage to a "heathen" and instead found him a Dutch bride, Antonia Ginderdros, whom he wed in 1745 – the first wedding among the Europeans at Elmina.
Although he had little success as a missionary, Capitein did manage to set up a school and an orphanage at Elmina. His greatest success came in 1744 when Opoku Ware I
Opoku Ware I
Katakyie Opoku Ware I was an Oyoko king or Asantehene - the ruler of the Ashanti - in the now-disbanded Ashanti Confederacy which occupied parts of what is now Ghana...
, king of the Ashanti, requested that Capitein educate his children. Capitein tried to send the children to the Netherlands to be educated, but this was not allowed. However, one of the princes, Gyakye, was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Dutch republic, carrying a gift of ten elephants' teeth.
Legacy
Jacobus Capitein's role in history has long been neglected or dismissed as a curiosity because, as a defender of slavery, he was an unlikely role model for black emancipation. However, Capitein's position on slavery should be viewed in the light of his time. Capitein's views fitted in the 17th century climate in which the church had adapted to the slave trade, which had become one of the pillars of the Dutch republic's powerful economy. A rejection of slavery on principle was not considered an option, although some did decry the excesses of the slave trade.The primary goal of Capitein's thesis was to encourage baptism of Africans by arguing that Africans could be baptized yet remain slave. Capitein thereby presented a counterargument to Godefridus Cornelisz Udemans, a Dutch minister who had argued that slaves should be freed seven years after they were baptized. This would have effectively rendered baptism a non-option, because slave owners were eager to keep their assets and would therefore not have allowed their slaves to be baptized.
Capitein in fiction
- Guus KuijerGuus KuijerGuus Kuijer is a Dutch author. He wrote books for children and adults, and is best known as the author of the Madelief series of children's books.- Early life :Guus Kuijer is born on 1 August 1942 in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
, a Dutch author of children's books, wrote a novel about Jacobus Capitein's life called The redder van Afrika ("The savior of Africa").
Further reading
- Jacobus Elisa Johannes Capitein (2001), The Agony of Asar: A Thesis on Slavery by the Former Slave, Jacobus Elisa Johannes Capitein, 1717–1747. Translated with comments by Grant Parker. Markus Wiener, Princeton, N.J.
- David Nii Anum Kpobi (1993): Mission in chains. The life, theology and ministry of the ex-slave Jacobus E.J. Capitein (1717-1747) with a translation of his major publications, Boekencentrum, Zoetermeer, ISBN 9023907930
- David Nii Anum Kpobi (2002): Saga of a Slave: Jacobus Capitein of Holland and Elmina. African Books Collective, Oxford, ISBN 9988812108
- Henri van der Zee (2000): s Heeren Slaaf. Het dramatische leven van Jacobus Capitein, Balans, Amsterdam, ISBN 9050185142
- André Capiteyn (2001): Ivoorzwart: Hollands glorie en de slavenhandel in West-Afrika: "over de slaverny als niet strydig tegen de christelyke vryheid". Stichting Mens en Kultuur, Gent, ISBN 9072931912