Paving the Way for Dutch Colonial Missions: Jacobus Elisa Johannes Capitein (c. 1717–1747) and His Defense of Slavery in Context

Abstract

The ex-slave-turned-missionary Jacobus Capitein (c. 1717–1747) was one of the first Africans to study at a European university and the first to be ordained as a Protestant minister. Capitein is particularly known for his 1742 Leiden University dissertation, which defended slavery as compatible with Christian liberty. This has given rise to the question of whether Capitein should be considered an “Uncle Tom” who merely wrote what his benefactors wanted to hear. This study contends that when his dissertation is considered in its historical- intellectual context, a more nuanced picture of Capitein emerges. By considering Capitein’s actual arguments, the missional agenda behind his dissertation, and the overwhelming corroboration afforded to his views by early modern Dutch theological and juridical sources, it argues that Capitein was an intellectual in his own right, who through his dissertation sought to pave the way for his return to Africa as a missionary.