Editing History of Ghana (section)

==== Politics of the independence movements ====
Although political organizations had existed in the British colony, the [[United Gold Coast Convention]] (UGCC), founded on 4 August 1947 by educated Ghanaians known as [[The Big Six (Ghana)|The Big Six]], was the first nationalist movement with the aim of self-government "in the shortest possible time." It called for the replacement of chiefs on the Legislative Council with educated persons.<ref name="auto2"/> They also demanded that, given their education, the colonial administration should respect them and accord them positions of responsibility. In particular, the UGCC leadership criticized the government for its failure to solve the problems of unemployment, inflation, and the disturbances that had come to characterize the society at the end of the war.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zimmermann|first=Thomas Ede|date=9 February 2012|title=Compositionality Problems and how to Solve Them|journal=Oxford Handbooks Online|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199541072.013.0004}}</ref> Though they opposed the colonial administration, UGCC members did not seek drastic or revolutionary change. 

Public dissatisfaction with the UGCC expressed itself on 28 February 1948, as a demonstration of ex-servicemen organized by the ex-serviceman's union paraded through Accra.<ref>Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875: A Modern History'', pp. 364–365.</ref> To disperse the demonstrators, police fired on them killing three ex-servicemen and wounding sixty. Five days of violent disorder followed in Accra in response to the shooting and rioters broke into and looted the shops owned by Europeans and Syrians.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 365">Hallet, ''Africa Since 1875: A Modern History'', p. 365.</ref> Rioting also broke out in Kumasi and other towns across the Gold Coast. The Big Six including Nkrumah were imprisoned by the British authorities from 12 March to 12 April 1948. 
[[Kwame Nkrumah]] broke with the UGCC publicly during its Easter Convention in 1949, and created his [[Convention People's Party]] (CPP) on 12 June 1949.<ref name=pim>McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "The Politics of the Independence Movements".</ref> After his brief tenure with the UGCC, the US- and British-educated Nkrumah broke with the organization over his frustration at the UGCC's weak attempts to solve the problems of the Gold Coast colony by negotiating another new conciliatory colonial constitution with the British colonial authority.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 365" /> Unlike the UGCC's call for self-government "in the shortest possible time," Nkrumah and the CPP asked for "self-government now". The party leadership identified itself more with ordinary working people than with the UGCC and its intelligentsia.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2001|title=More women die following c-section than vaginal birth, probably due more to preexisting conditions than the surgery itself |journal=APA PsycNet |doi=10.1037/e556732006-004}}</ref> The politicized population consisted largely of ex-servicemen, literate persons, journalists, and elementary school teachers, all of whom had developed a taste for populist conceptions of democracy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Motz|first=Annabelle Bender|date=May 1946|title=Whom Do Women Teachers Teach?|journal=The Elementary School Journal|volume=46|issue=9|pages=505–512|doi=10.1086/458875|s2cid=144396960|issn=0013-5984}}</ref> A growing number of uneducated but urbanized industrial workers also formed part of the support group. By June 1949, Nkrumah had a mass following.<ref name=pim />
The constitution of 1 January 1951 resulted from the report of the [[Coussey Committee]], created because of [[Accra Riots|disturbances in Accra]] and other cities in 1948. In addition to giving the Executive Council a large majority of African ministers, it created an assembly, half the elected members of which were to come from the towns and rural districts and half from the traditional councils.<ref>{{Cite book |date=21 May 2015|chapter=More than half of all jobs created since 1995 were non-standard jobs |title=In It Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All |publisher=OECD |doi=10.1787/9789264235120-graph7-en}}</ref> Although it was an enormous step forward, the new constitution still fell far short of the CPP's call for full self-government. Executive power remained in British hands, and the legislature was tailored to permit control by traditionalist interests.<ref name=pim />

With increasing popular backing, the CPP in early 1950 initiated a campaign of "[[Positive Action]]" intended to instigate widespread strikes and nonviolent resistance. When some violent disorders occurred on January 20, 1950, Nkrumah was arrested and imprisoned for sedition.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Omer|first1=Haim|title=Nonviolent Resistance in Action|work=Nonviolent Resistance|pages=75–92|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-511-55065-2|last2=London-Sapir|first2=Shoshannah|year=2003|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511550652.006}}</ref> This merely established him as a leader and hero, building popular support, and when the first elections were held for the Legislative Assembly under the new constitution during 5–10 February 1951, Nkrumah (still in jail) won a seat, and the CPP won a two-thirds majority of votes cast winning 34 of the 38 elected seats in the Assembly.<ref>{{Citation|last=Biney|first=Ama|author-link=Ama Biney|title=From Activist to Leader of the CPP, 1945–1951|date=2011|work=The Political and Social Thought of Kwame Nkrumah|pages=29–45|place=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|doi=10.1057/9780230118645_3|isbn=978-1-349-29513-5}}</ref> Nkrumah was released from jail on 11 February 1951, and the following day accepted an invitation to form a government. The start of Nkrumah's first term was marked by cooperation with the British governor. During the next few years, the government was gradually transformed into a full [[Parliament of Ghana|parliamentary system]]. The changes were opposed by the more traditionalist African elements, though opposition proved ineffective in the face of popular support for independence at an early date.<ref name=pim />

On 10 March 1952, the new position of [[Prime minister]] was created, and Nkrumah was elected to the post by the Assembly. At the same time the Executive Council became the Cabinet. The new constitution of 5 May 1954 ended the election of assembly members by the tribal councils.<ref>{{Citation|title=Andrews, James Frank, (26 June 1848–10 Dec. 1922), JP; late Secretary to New Zealand Cabinet, Clerk of the Executive Council, and Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dominion of New Zealand|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u192785}}</ref> The Legislative Assembly increased in size, and all members were chosen by direct election from equal, single-member constituencies.<ref>{{Citation|title=Fraser, Henry Ralph, (1896–22 Sept. 1963), Member Central Legislative Assembly, Uganda, 1947–58; Member of Legislative Council, Uganda, 1942–58; Member Executive Council, 1954–56|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u49782}}</ref> Only defence and foreign policy remained in the hands of the Governor; the elected assembly was given control of virtually all internal affairs of the Colony.<ref name=pim /> The CPP won 71 of the 104 seats in the 15 June 1954 election.

[[File:The National Archives UK - CO 1069-46-45.jpg|thumb|A typical [[Dagomba people|Dagomba]] household comprising husband, wife and three children in [[Yendi]], 1957.]]
The CPP pursued a policy of political centralization, which encountered serious opposition. Shortly after the [[Gold Coast legislative election, 1954|15 June 1954 election]], a new party, the Ashanti-based [[National Liberation Movement (Ghana)|National Liberation Movement]] (NLM), was formed.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Afghan National Liberation Front (Afghanistan : Political party)./Liberation Front.|date=1990|publisher=University of Arizona Libraries|doi=10.2458/azu_acku_serial_jq1769_a8_a76_v6_n7|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref> The NLM advocated a federal form of government, with increased powers for the various regions. NLM leaders criticized the CPP for perceived dictatorial tendencies. The new party worked in cooperation with another regionalist group, the Northern People's Party. When these two regional parties walked out of discussions on a new constitution, the CPP feared that London might consider such disunity an indication that the colony was not yet ready for the next phase of self-government.<ref name=pim />

The British constitutional adviser, however, backed the CPP position. The governor dissolved the assembly in order to test popular support for the CPP demand for immediate independence.<ref>{{Citation|last=Langel|first=Ülo|title=Methods for CPP Functionalization|date=2019|work=CPP, Cell-Penetrating Peptides|pages=83–156|place=Singapore|publisher=Springer Singapore|doi=10.1007/978-981-13-8747-0_3|isbn=978-981-13-8746-3|s2cid=195394638}}</ref> On 11 May 1956 the British agreed to grant independence if so requested by a 'reasonable' majority of the new legislature.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40616FC3D5F107A93C0A8178ED85F428585F9 |title=Britain Promises Free Gold Coast; African Colony Is Offered Independence as Soon as New Legislature Asks It |last=Love |first=Kennett |date=12 May 1956 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> [[Gold Coast legislative election, 1956|New elections]] were held on 17 July 1956. In keenly contested elections, the CPP won 57 percent of the votes cast, but the fragmentation of the opposition gave the CPP every seat in the south as well as enough seats in Ashanti, the Northern Territories, and the Trans-Volta Region to hold a two-thirds majority by winning 72 of the 104 seats.<ref name=pim />

On 9 May 1956, a plebiscite was conducted under [[United Nations]] (UN) auspices to decide the future disposition of [[British Togoland]] and [[French Togoland]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Kent|first=John|title=The Ewe Question and the Future of Togoland, 1950–1956|date=1992-10-08|work=The Internationalization of Colonialism|pages=239–262|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203025.003.0011|isbn=978-0-19-820302-5}}</ref> The British trusteeship, the western portion of the former German colony, had been linked to the Gold Coast since 1919 and was represented in its parliament. The dominant ethnic group, the [[Ewe people]], were divided between the two [[Togo]]s. A majority (58%) of [[British Togoland]] inhabitants voted in favour of union, and the area was absorbed into [[Ashantiland]] and [[Kingdom of Dagbon|Dagbon]]. There was, however, vocal opposition to the incorporation from the [[Ewe people]] (42%) in [[British Togoland]].<ref name=pim />