Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol

Who was Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol?

Joan Derk, Baron van der Capellen tot den Pol was a Dutch nobleman who played a prominent role in the formation of the Batavian Republic and the revolutionary events that preceded its formation. As a member of the Patriots and inspired by the American Revolution, he wrote the noted pamphlet "To the People of the Netherlands", in which reclaimed a more liberal society and the end of the Stadtholder regime, which had been marked by corruption and nepotism. He was also an ardent supporter in the legal recognition of the recently created United States of America.