Editing Accra (section)

== History ==
{{For timeline}}

[[File:Christiansborg Castle2.jpg|thumb|left|A contemporary drawing of the [[Danish overseas colonies|Danish empire]] fort, ''Fort Christiansborg'', now Osu Castle. The outpost to the right is ''Fort Prøvestenen'']]

===Accra Kingdom===
The main [[Ga people|Ga]] group known as the Tumgwa Were led by Ayi Kushie arrived by sea. Due to the sheer numbers of the Ga immigrants, the indigenous Lartehs relocated to the [[Larteh Akuapem|Akuapem]] ridge.{{fact|date=December 2024}} By the late 15th century, the kingdom of Accra ruled the area from the capital at [[Ayawaso West|Ayawaso]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Accra |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Accra#ref167186 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=21 April 2025}}</ref>

Initially, Accra was not the most prominent trading centre; the trade hubs of the time were the ports at [[Ada, Ghana|Ada]] and [[Prampram]], along with the inland centres of [[Dodowa]] and [[Akuse]].<ref name = Traveltill>{{Cite web |title=Accra History, History of Accra, Accra City Information :: Traveltill.com |url=https://traveltill.com/destination/Ghana/Accra/history.php |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=Traveltill}}</ref> An early Portuguese fort was destroyed by the local inhabitants in 1576; trader afterwards was conducted on the beaches.{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=30}} The Dutch later built the nearby [[Ussher Fort|Fort Crèvecœur]] while the British and the Swedes built James Fort and Christiansborg castles, respectively, in the mid-17th century.<ref>{{cite book|editor1=[[Kwame Anthony Appiah]] |editor2= [[Henry Louis Gates]] |title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517055-9 |edition=2nd |chapter=Accra |page= 18 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TMZMAgAAQBAJ}}</ref>

By 1646 the kingdom was a regional power, bolstered by European trade. Nevertheless, it depended on the goodwill of the rising [[Akwamu Kingdom]], which controlled the trade routes in the interior. A dispute in 1646 nearly escalated to war when Accra invaded Larteh.{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=30}} At the same time, Accra was weakened by a civil war.{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=32}}

===Akwamu===
In 1677 Akwamuhene Ansa Sasraku, using the circumcision of a visiting Akwamu prince as pretext, attacked Accra. He sacked Ayawaso and beheaded the king, Okai Koi.{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=32}} The king's son, Ofori, retreated to 'Small Accra', the town that had grown up under the walls of Fort Crèvecœur.{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=33}} Ansa Sasraku's attempts to finish off the Accrans were defeated by the guns of the Danish Fort Christianborg.{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=34}} Ofori and his people survived for a few years, until the Akwamu fomented a rebellion amongst the Danish garrison, and the fort was turned over to the Portuguese. Ansa Sasraku returned in 1681, burning Osu town and Small Accra and chasing Ofori to exile in [[Fetu Kingdom|Fetu]].{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=36}} As Akwamu continued to expand, strips of land east and west were added to the Accra province.{{sfn|Wilks|1957|p=44}} When Akwamu was defeated by the [[Akyem]] in 1730, however, Accra regained its independence.

===British Power Increases===
Britain gradually acquired the interests of all other countries beginning in 1851, when Denmark sold [[Fort Christiansborg|Christiansborg]] (which they had acquired from the Swedes) and their other forts to the British. The [[Netherlands]] was the last to sell out, in 1871. In 1873, after decades of tension between the British and [[Ashanti people|Ashantis]], the British captured [[Kumasi]], destroying portions of the city. The British then captured Accra in 1874, and in 1877, at the end of the second [[Anglo-Asante Wars|Anglo-Asante War]], Accra replaced [[Cape Coast]] as the capital of the British [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]]. This decision was made because Accra had a drier climate relative to Cape Coast. Until this time, the settlement of Accra was confined between Ussher Fort to the east and the [[Korle Lagoon]] to the west.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=994 |title=History of Accra |access-date=22 July 2010 |publisher=The African Executive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707101722/http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=994 |archive-date=7 July 2011}}</ref>

As the newly established Gold Coast's administrative functions were moved to Accra (1877), an influx of British colonial administrators and European settlers grew around the Christiansborg (modern [[Osu, Accra|Osu]], Ministries, Ridge, Labone, and Cantonments) began, and the city began to expand to accommodate the new residents. Victoriaborg was formed in the late 19th century as an exclusively European residential neighbourhood, located to the east of the city limits of the time. The boundaries of Accra were further stretched in 1908, after a bubonic plague epidemic.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Jonathan |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv21hrjnx |title=Sharing the Burden of Sickness |date=2021-11-09 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-05791-4 |pages=146|doi=10.2307/j.ctv21hrjnx }}</ref> This expansion entailed the creation of a native-only neighbourhood, intended to accommodate members of the native population as a means of relieving congestion problems in the overcrowded city centre. [[Adabraka]] was thus established to the north of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog261/eskidmore/history.htm |title=History of Accra |access-date=17 February 2011 |archive-date=31 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531013544/http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog261/eskidmore/history.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:HauptstraßeAccra18851908 300dpi.jpg|thumb|right|A main street of central Accra sometime between 1885 and 1908]]

One of the most influential decisions in the history of the city was that of building the Accra-Kumasi railway in 1908. This was to connect Accra, the country's foremost port at that time, with Ghana's main [[cocoa bean|cocoa]]-producing regions. In 1923, the railway was completed, and by 1924, cocoa was Ghana's largest export.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The colonial era heavily influenced the shape that Accra took during this period. For example, the [[racial segregation|segregation]] of European and African neighbourhoods was mandated by law until 1923, and all new buildings were required to be built out of stone or concrete.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} Despite these regulations, European settlers in the Gold Coast were very hesitant to invest any large amount of money into the city to maintain its infrastructure or improve public works. This did not change until the governorship of [[Gordon Guggisberg|Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg]] during which period the three separate settlements (Osu, La and Jamestown) merged to become modern Accra. Guggisberg's administration laid out the present grid networked neighbourhoods of Tudu, Adabraka and Asylum Down.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Among the achievements of Guggisberg was the building of a bridge across the Korle Lagoon in 1923, which increased settlement at Korle Bu, Korle Gonno and Chokor, to the west of the lagoon. Guggisberg also oversaw the building of a major hospital (Korle-Bu) and secondary school (Achimota).<ref name=":7" /> Such improvements led to an increase in Accra's population due to the [[rural-urban migration|migration of rural dwellers]] into the city, and the immigration of increasing numbers of British businessmen and administrators.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

=== After World War II ===
[[File:Jamestown lighthouse.jpg|thumb|upright|{{center|[[Jamestown Lighthouse]] in [[Jamestown/Usshertown, Accra|Jamestown/Usshertown]]}}]]
In the years following [[World War II]], the neighbourhoods of Ridge and Cantonments were planned as low-density developments for Europeans, while many rural migrants settled in neighbourhoods which had not yet been incorporated into Accra's municipal boundary, such as Nima and surrounding areas.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} Thus, the development of these neighbourhoods was unregulated by the government, creating a crowded and jumbled [[shanty-town]] landscape.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Another area of Accra that took shape at this time was the central business district (CBD). More administrative buildings were built on High Street, forming a massive judicial/administrative complex. Additionally, the expansion of the economy led to many more commercial buildings being built in the CBD.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

In 1944, Accra's city planner Maxwell Fry devised a town plan, which was revised in 1958 by B.D.W. Treavallion and Alan Flood. Although the Fry/Trevallion plan was never followed through, it illustrated the British vision of how Accra should develop.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

In 1948, Ghana remained a colony of Great Britain following World War II. The chief of Osu Alata, Nii Kobina Bonney III, had set up a boycott of European goods across the country due to the rise of prices for essential commodities.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nyadzi |first1=Ralph |title=The Causes and Effects of the 1948 Accra Riots in Ghana |url=https://www.cegastacademy.com/2019/04/22/the-causes-and-effects-of-the-1948-accra-riots-in-ghana/ |website=Cegast Academy |date=22 April 2019 |access-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508095747/https://www.cegastacademy.com/2019/04/22/the-causes-and-effects-of-the-1948-accra-riots-in-ghana/ |archive-date=8 May 2023 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> At the same time, veterans of the war were fighting for their benefits and promised pay.<ref>{{cite web |last1=PRAAD |title=The Riots of 28th February 1948 |url=https://praad.gov.gh/index.php/the-riots-of-28th-february-1948/ |website=Public Records and Archives AdministrationDepartment |publisher=Marichael Company Limited |access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref> Unarmed ex-servicemen organized a march on [[Christiansborg Castle]], Accra, on 28 February 1948. Their plan was to hand a petition to the colonial governor demanding they receive their pay and benefits. Before reaching the castle, the veterans were fired upon, after being ordered by the colonial police chief to disperse. Three of the leaders of the demonstration were killed, including [[Sergeant Nii Adjetey]], who now has a memorial in Accra,{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} leading to the [[1948 Accra riots]].

==== Fry/Treavallion plan ====
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2023}}
In the Fry/Treavallion plan, a reorganization of the CBD was called for, as well as the development of the coastal region of the city. To reorganize the CBD, the planners decided to superimpose a tight street grid north of Fort Ussher.

To the east of this newly organized CBD, the planners hoped to preserve a broad, open space for a restaurant, country club, and [[polo]] and [[cricket]] fields. Additionally, the British planners intended to build large numbers of public squares, fountains, and ornamental pools and statues throughout the city, as well as a vast Parliament Complex in the city centre. Lastly, the Fry/Treavallion plan included plans to make the coastal region an extension of the exclusive European neighbourhood of Victoriaborg, and to create a recreational preserve for the elite. However, the [[1948 Accra riots|British Gold Coast ended]] before the Fry/Treavallion plan was enacted.

==== Nkrumah Plan ====
[[File:Black Star Square and Independence Arch, Accra, Ghana.jpg|thumb|[[Black Star Square]]]]

When [[Kwame Nkrumah]] became Ghana's first post-independence [[Prime Minister of Ghana|Prime Minister]] in 1957, he created his own plan for Accra's development.<ref>Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 5.</ref> Instead of creating spaces to serve the elite, Nkrumah sought to create spaces to inspire pride and nationalism in his people and people throughout Africa.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Rather than creating ornamental fountains and a large Parliament complex, Nkrumah decided to build landmarks such as Independence Square, the State House, and the Organisation of African Unity building, and to refurbish Christianborg Castle. Nkrumah decided to leave the Atlantic coastal region undeveloped so as to not detract attention from the Community Centre or Independence Square, lending both spaces symbolic significance.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} The Nkrumah plan did not emphasize order nearly as much as the Fry/Treavallion plan did; whereas the British plan strove to lessen crowding in the commercial district and help relieve the overcrowding of neighbourhoods bordering the CBD, the Nkrumah plan allowed for continued compression of commercial establishments into the CBD, as well as increased migration into Jamestown.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The modern city is centered on the original British, Danish, and Dutch forts and their surrounding communities: [[Jamestown, Ghana|Jamestown]] near the British [[Fort James, Ghana|James Fort]], [[Osu, Accra|Osu]] near the Danish fort of [[Fort Christiansborg|Christiansborg]] (now [[Osu Castle]]), and [[Jamestown/Usshertown, Accra|Ussherstown]] near the Dutch [[Ussher fort]].

Tourist attractions include the [[National Museum of Ghana]], the [[Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences]], the [[National Archives of Ghana]] and Ghana's central library, the [[National Theatre of Ghana|National Theatre]], the Accra Centre for National Culture, and [[Jamestown Lighthouse]].

The [[Parliament of Ghana|Parliament]], [[Supreme Court of Ghana]], [[Black Star Square]] and the [[Bank of Ghana]] are also located in Accra.

The city is also a transportation hub, home to the [[Kotoka International Airport]], and railway links to [[Tema]], [[Sekondi-Takoradi]] and [[Kumasi]]. Accra has become a location for national and international business conferences, such as the BarCamp Ghana series, organised by GhanaThink Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allconferences.com/Regional/Accra/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017232231/http://www.allconferences.com/Regional/Accra/|url-status=dead|title=Accra Conferences|archivedate=17 October 2011}}</ref>