Akwaba=Welcome (Twi) What day were you born on? Day of the
WeekMaleFemale MondayKojoAdjoa TuesdayKwabenaAbena
WednesdayKwakuAkua ThursdayYawYaa FridayKofiAfua SaturdayKwameAma
SundayKwesiAkosua
Slide 3
Ghana Throughout the ages The present state of Ghana derives
its name from the medieval Ghana-Wagadu Empire of west Africa.
Although the name of the empire officially was called Wagadugu, the
kings had the title of Ghana. It was absorbed into the larger
Kingdom of Mali.
Slide 4
Etymology of the names Until 1957, after Ghana received its
independence from the British, they were called the Gold Coast. The
Portuguese came to Ghana in the 15 th century and discovered so
much gold between the Ankobra and Volta rivers they called the land
Mina-meaning mine in Portuguese. The term Gold Coast was later
coined by the English. In 1482 the Portuguese built the castle in
Elmina (Elmina castle)- This was one of the many slave forts
located along the west African coastline.
Slide 5
Elmina Castle
Slide 6
Elmina castle
Slide 7
History of Elmina Portuguese completed the castle in 1482
During the reign of King Alfonso V of Portugal. This is the oldest
European construction in Sub- Saharan Africa. This fort exported
24,000 ounces of gold a year accounting for 1/10 of all the gold
exported in the world. It also exported ivory and slaves in mass
number.
Slide 8
The Dutch and Slavery at Sao Jorge da Mina In 1637 the fort was
taken over by the Dutch. They made it the capital of the west
African trade company and protected it by nearby forts built up on
hills. This became a center for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to
the Americas and Caribbean. Slavery continued until 1814-until the
Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1814 abolished the trade. The English took
over the region after the Anglo- Dutch Sumatra Treaties of 1871. It
then became known as the Gold Coast.
Slide 9
The Gold Coast
Slide 10
Great Britain controlled significantly less territory of West
Africa than the French, with the exception of present day Ghana and
Nigeria. These two regions were the wealthiest regions in West
Africa! After the Sumatra Treaties of 1871, Great Britain
controlled the Fante coastal regions bordering the Gulf of
Guinea
Slide 11
Fante Region
Slide 12
The defeat of the Ashanti: The formation of the Gold coast The
British defeated the Ashanti in 1900 and this signified the
creation of the Gold coast. After the slave trade was abolished the
Gold Coast led the world in rubber exports until Malaysia surpassed
it. At this point, Cocoa became the chief export. By 1911, the Gold
coast was the worlds leader of Cocoa exports.
Slide 13
Nana Agyeman Prempeh I (1872- 1931)
Slide 14
King Prempeh I was king of the Ashanti in Asante region when
they were defeated by the British. He refused to accept the idea of
being a British protectorate; he and the other members of the
Ashanti Royal family were imprisoned, and later exiled to Sierra
Leone and Seychelles (1897). This created discontent with the
Ashanti people who were angry that their King had been taken. The
British released King Prempeh and 54 other exiles in September of
1924. He was returned to Kumasi (capital of Asante people). He
regained authority in 1926.
Slide 15
Rise of Nationalistic sentiments? The educated elite of Ghana
attended mission schools in Sierra Leone (Fourah Bay College), UK
and USA; which created resentments about civil society, neglect,
and inequalities. The educated began demanding more Universities,
legislative councils, and civil services. They formed the
Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS)-1897. This successfully
argued for unclaimed lands to be given to the crown-This delayed
the taking of the Forest land between 1911-27.
Slide 16
Ghanaian Intellectuals: Casely Hayford
Slide 17
Trained as lawyer at Cambridge. Published Gold Coast Native
Institutions: With thoughts Upon A Healthy Imperial Policy For the
Gold Coast and Ashanti This text addressed the hope for unity
between coastal and Ashanti people of the Gold coast. He was an
early nationalist, and Pan-Africanist who advocated African rights
against interference from the British. He worked closely with the
ARPS, and the movement ended up being mostly centered with the
Fante people. He organized the National Congress of British West
Africa in 1920-although it was unsuccessful because of territorial
distance between colonial communities, traditional belief systems
and political competition between western educated Africans.
Slide 18
Indirect rule and Frederick Gordon Guggisberg Unlike India,
Ghana experienced Indirect Rule-which permitted local authorities
to rule within the colonial government. This was used in many
British colonial governments. The Gold Coast utilized this with the
return of King Prempeh I. Brigadier-General Sir Frederick Gordon
Guggisberg was made Governor and commander in Chief of the Gold
coast between 1919-1929. He developed railways, port facilities,
hospitals, and colleges, He was uncharacteristically interested in
creating infrastructure that would serve Africans.
Slide 19
Reasons for a British rule to Weaken The depression slowed down
Great Britain but not enough. ETHIOPIA- Mussolini invades Ethiopia-
That was all I needed. At that moment it was almost as if the whole
of London had suddenly declared war on me personally. For the next
few minutes I could do nothing but glare at each impassive face
wondering if those people could possibly realize the wickedness of
colonialism, and praying that the day might come when I could play
my part in bringing about the downfall of such a system.-Kwame
Nkrumah
Slide 20
Reasons for Weakening empire Both Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo
Kenyatta were students in London at the time of the Abyssinia
crisis which illustrated the failures of the League of nations. The
2 nd World War!!!!!!!! -As British regiments were defeated in the
south pacific, many colonial subjects saw the weakness of the
British Empire Soldiers were exposed to regular British soldiers
who were anything but refined. Nearly a million Africans served in
WWII, Ghanaians served in mass number in Burma to help liberate it
from the Japanese. Demobilized soldiers returned expecting rewards,
benefits and fulfillment of promises, which were not granted.
(despite being guaranteed in the Atlantic charter).
Slide 21
A Weakening Empire After WWII Great Britain became a nation in
debt. (In part to India) The British believed the indirect model in
the Gold coast combined abundant resources, was the best option for
economic recovery. They also believed they could share
power/resources with local leaders and hold colonial rule.
Slide 22
India and Pakistan (1947) When India and Pakistan became
independent in 1947 a Gold Coast lawyer named JB Danquah
established the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). (Modeled on
the INC, and the Indian Independence movement) The UGCC sought self
government in the shortest time possible.-similar to the Quit India
Campaign. Kwame Nkrumah took up the position as General Secretary
of the UGCC.
Slide 23
The Big 6 The six leaders of the UGCC were: Ebenezer
Ako-Adej-Founding member Edward Akufo-Addo-Founding member, Chief
Justice, and President J.b. Danquah-founding member Kwame
Nkrumah-Prime Minister and President of Ghana Emmanuel
Obetsebi-Lamptey-Founding member William Ofori Atta-Founding
member
Slide 24
AWAM boycott And Shooting An organized boycott of European
goods took place in January 1948. There was an association of
foreign traders known as the Association of West African Merchants
(AWAM), who wanted to reduce the price of goods in Ghana. An
incident occurred called the Christiansborg cross-roads shooting-
where former soldiers of the Gold coast Regiment marched to the
Christiansborg Castle to the seat of the colonial government.
British troops ordered the regiment to disperse, when they did not
they British troops were ordered to fire.
Slide 25
February 28 th 1948 Boycotts, riots and uprisings across the
Gold coast led to the British organizing an all African Committee
to create a new constitution. Danquah took part in the committee in
1948. Nkrumah felt that the participants were all men of property
and standing and he broke from the committee. Nkrumah then formed
the Convention Peoples Party (CPP)
Slide 26
Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP After breaking from Danquah, Nkrumah
pushed vigorously for Independence stressing mass action, non
violence and Self-government now. January 1950 he began a campaign
of strikes and boycotts to stimulate positive action in a similar
fashion to the Indian independence movement. He and his associates
were arrested and served three years for subversion. This increased
his status as a folk hero to the people.
Slide 27
Nkrumah and CPP 1951 the CPP became the most popular party and
defeated the UGCC, winning 34 out of 38 popularity seats. The
British Governor Sir Charles Arden-Clarke decided independence was
a better course than repression and released Nkrumah from prison.
The UK maintained its presence in the Gold coast from 1951-7 by
maintaining control of resources. They increased their profits by
50% in this time period. The goldmines were also still under
British ownership. However, there was a steady increase in
parliamentary seats and government positions being occupied by
Ghanaians.
Slide 28
Internal tensions Nkrumah and the government negotiated a new
constitution which brought fully-elected, internal self- government
to the Gold coast in 1954. The CPP won the next round of elections,
but their popularity had declined. They lost the popularity of the
North, who united with the Ashanti and cocoa farmers against
coastal Fante people. Farmers believed that Nkrumah government
received high profits from cocoa at the expense of farmers.
Slide 29
Internal Tensions The cocoa farmers then created the National
Liberation Movement, which desired power to be regional in a
federal state. Ethnic rivalry between Fante and Ashanti people
might have delayed Independence; but Arden-Clarke supported
Nkrumahs goal of a peaceful transition. The CPP won the elections
in 1956 and the country became Ghana and received its Independence
on March 7 th 1957.
Slide 30
Independence No imperial power has ever granted independence to
a colony unless the forces were such that no other course was
possible, and there are many instances where independence was only
achieved by a war of liberation, but there are many other instances
then no such war occurred. The very organization of the forces of
independence within the colony was sufficient to convince, the
imperial power that resistance to independence would be impossible
or that the political and economic consequences of a colonial war
outweighed any advantage to be gained by retaining the colony.
Kwame Nkrumah
Slide 31
Ghana After Independence under Kwame Nkrumah Ghana was one of
the wealthiest former African colonies. They had roads, railways,
well-developed education systems, efficient civil services and a
variety of exportable natural resources. (gold, diamonds,
manganese, bauxite and a successful cocoa industry.) The first 3
years he implemented a cautious policy where foreign investment in
industry was allowed and there was a 5% annual growth in GDP. 75%
of the profit was allocated for infrastructure development and
social services.
Slide 32
The 2 nd (5year) plan (1959-64) He allocated even more money to
both infrastructure and social services. In 1961 he favored
socialist policies for equality. He incorporated state controlled
corporations. (47 in 1965). These often worked at a loss because of
a lack of trained personal, proper planning, corruption, and
dispersal of funds for recruitment of trained staff. Nkrumahs
government failed to turn Ghana into the booming industrial state
that it had hoped for. People lacked basic commodities; there was
high inflation and the country eventually became bankrupt. His
government did double the hospitals, health workers, and enrollment
in secondary schools.
Slide 33
Spending Many of the cabinet members of Nkrumah became
exceedingly corrupt and embarked on lavish projects that had little
viability. Presidential palace, a motorway to Accra and the Volta
Dam. The Dam provided electricity to most of the people in Accra
(The capital), but later could not even do this. It did not benefit
the majority of the Ghanaian people. This project was financed by
the World bank, United States, United Kingdom and the Volta
Aluminum Company (VALCO), A US company. The Volta Lake is the
largest man-made lake in the world. The project pushed Ghana into
tremendous debt which has had impacts to the present day.
Slide 34
Pan-Africanism Nkrumah desired to unite Ghana with its
neighbors in a federation. He felt that a United Africa would be a
successful model for a strong African Economy. There was a large
movement of Pan-Africanism with famous thinkers such as Marcus
Garvey. He held conferences in Accra, (All African Peoples
Conference)-December 1958. Ghana, along with the UN; helped the
Congo when conflict developed between Belgium and indigenous
people. non-alignment.
Slide 35
The Fall of Kwame Nkrumah Many Ghanaians felt that Nkrumah
spent too much time working for African unity and not enough on
domestic policies. He is credited with the total end of colonial
rule within Africa. Although Nkrumah had aims to make a more
representative democracy, he ended up creating a Single party
state, which was similar to other former colonial governments. This
Single party state change occurred in 1964/5. As early as 1958, he
passed the Preventative Detention Act, which detained people such
as Danquah, who opposed him.
Slide 36
The Coup By 1965 Ghana was essentially a no party state, where
new members of Parliament were not elected, and change seemed
impossible. Therefore, on the 24 th of February 1966, while Nkrumah
was in Beijing, he was overthrown by the armed forces. He was
replaced by the National Liberation Council.