Editing History of Ghana (section)

== British Gold Coast ==
{{Main|Gold Coast (British colony)}}

[[File:FortsSekondi.JPG|thumb|Neighbouring British and Dutch forts at [[Sekondi-Takoradi|Sekondi]].]]
By the later part of the 19th century the Dutch and the British were the only traders left. After the Dutch withdrew in 1874, Britain made the Gold Coast a protectorate—a British Crown Colony. Two major factors laid the foundations of British rule and the eventual establishment of a colony on the Gold Coast: British reaction to the Ashanti wars and the resulting instability and disruption of trade, and Britain's increasing preoccupation with the suppression and elimination of the slave trade.<ref name=bgc>McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "Britain and the Gold Coast: the Early Years".</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Lambert|first=David|title=Slave-trade suppression and the image of West Africa in nineteenth-century Britain|date=1 September 2015|work=The suppression of the Atlantic slave trade|pages=146–165|publisher=Manchester University Press|doi=10.7228/manchester/9780719085116.003.0007|isbn=978-0-7190-8511-6}}</ref>

During most of the 19th century, Ashanti, the most powerful state of the Akan interior, sought to expand its rule and to promote and protect its trade. The first Ashanti invasion of the coastal regions took place in 1807; the Ashanti moved south again in 1811 and in 1814.<ref name="Thompson 1995 12–50">{{Citation|last=Thompson|first=Larry|title=Ashanti soll geheilt werden|date=1995|work=Der Fall Ashanti|pages=12–50|place=Basel|publisher=Birkhäuser Basel|doi=10.1007/978-3-0348-6006-2_1|isbn=978-3-0348-6007-9}}</ref> These invasions, though not decisive, disrupted trade and threatened the security of the European forts. Local British, Dutch, and Danish authorities were all forced to come to terms with Ashanti, and in 1817 the African Company of Merchants signed a treaty of friendship that recognized Ashanti claims to sovereignty over large areas of the coast and its peoples.<ref name=bgc /><ref>{{Citation|last=Hopkins|first=Daniel|title=The Danish Guinea Coast Forts, Denmark's Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade, and African Colonial Policy, 1788–1850|date=24 September 2018|work=Forts, Castles and Society in West Africa|pages=148–169|publisher=BRILL|doi=10.1163/9789004380172_008|isbn=978-90-04-38017-2|s2cid=201461088}}</ref>

[[File:Aschanti Gefecht 11 july 1824 300dpi.jpg|thumb|A battle during the [[Anglo-Ashanti wars]].]]
The coastal people, primarily some of the Fante and the inhabitants of the new town of [[Accra]] came to rely on British protection against Ashanti incursions, but the ability of the merchant companies to provide this security was limited.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Armitage|first1=Cecil Hamilton|work=The Ashanti Campaign of 1900|pages=181–187|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-05803-2|last2=Montanaro|first2=Arthur Forbes|title=An Expedition Against a Fetish Town|year=2011|doi=10.1017/cbo9781139058032.021}}</ref> The British Crown dissolved the company in 1821, giving authority over British forts on the Gold Coast to [[Charles MacCarthy (British Army officer)|Charles MacCarthy]], governor of [[Sierra Leone]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Lees, Sir Charles Cameron, (1837–28 July 1898), Governor of British Guiana from 1893|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u188091}}</ref> The British forts and Sierra Leone remained under common administration for the first half of the century. MacCarthy's mandate was to impose peace and to end the slave trade. He sought to do this by encouraging the coastal peoples to oppose Kumasi rule and by closing the great roads to the coast.<ref>{{Citation|title=Antislavery on a Slave Coast|work=Freedom's Debtors|year=2017|pages=28–64|publisher=Yale University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctt1vgwbg8.5|isbn=978-0-300-23152-6}}</ref> Incidents and sporadic warfare continued, however. In 1823, the First [[Anglo-Ashanti War]] broke out and lasted until 1831.<ref name="Hallett p. 188" /> MacCarthy was killed, and most of his force was wiped out in a battle with Ashanti forces in 1824.<ref name=bgc />

When the English government allowed control of the Gold Coast settlements to revert to the British African Company of Merchants in the late 1820s, relations with the Ashanti were still problematic.<ref>{{Citation|last=Horton|first=James Africanus Beale|title=Self-Government of the Gold Coast|work=West African Countries and Peoples, British and Native|year=2011|pages=104–123|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511983146.010|isbn=978-0-511-98314-6}}</ref> From the Ashanti point of view, the British had failed to control the activities of their local coastal allies. MacCarthy's encouragement of coastal opposition to Ashanti and the subsequent 1824 British military attack further indicated to the Ashanti authorities that the Europeans, especially the British, did not respect Ashanti.<ref name=bgc /><ref name="Thompson 1995 12–50"/>

===Protestant missions===
The Protestant nations in Western Europe, including Britain, had a vigorous evangelical element in the 19th century that felt their nations had a duty to "civilize" what they saw as slaves, sinners, and savages. Along with business opportunities, and the quest for national glory, the evangelical mission was a powerful impulse to imperialism.<ref>{{Citation|title=nations-capital-had-most-deficient-bridges|work=SAGE Business Researcher|year=2017|publisher=SAGE Publishing|doi=10.1177/237455680305.n9}}</ref> Practically all of Western Africa consisted of slave societies, in which warfare to capture new slaves—and perhaps sell them to itinerant slave traders—was a well-established economic, social, and political situation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lewis|first=David M.|date=20 September 2018|title=Slave Societies, Societies with Slaves|journal=Oxford Scholarship Online|volume=1 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198769941.003.0005}}</ref> The missionaries first of all targeted the slave trade, but they insisted that both the slave trade in the practice of traditional slavery were morally abhorrent. They organized to abolish the trade.<ref>{{Citation|title=Slave trade, slavery and sugar duties, 1839–1844|date=1 March 1970|work=The Abolition of the Brazilian Slave Trade|pages=214–241|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511759734.010|isbn=978-0-521-07583-1}}</ref> The transoceanic slave ships were targeted by the Royal Navy, and the trade faded away. 

The abolition of slavery did not end the forced labor of children, however. The first missionaries to pre-colonial Ghana, were a multiracial mixture of European, African, and Caribbean pietists employed by Switzerland's [[Basel Mission]]. The Basel Mission had tight budgets and depended on child labor for many routine operations. The children were students in the mission schools who split their time between general education, religious studies, and unpaid labor. The Basel Mission made it a priority to alleviate the harsh conditions of child labor imposed by slavery, and the debt bondage of their parents.<ref>Catherine Koonar, "Using child labor to save souls: the Basel Mission in colonial Ghana, 1855–1900." ‘’Atlantic Studies’’ 11.4 (2014): 536–554.</ref>
=== British rule of the Gold Coast: the colonial era ===
{{Main|West Africa Campaign (World War I)|West Africa Campaign (World War II)}}

In 1830 a London committee of merchants chose Captain George Maclean to become president of a local council of merchants. Although his formal jurisdiction was limited, Maclean's achievements were substantial. For example, a peace treaty was arranged with the Ashanti in 1831.<ref>{{Citation|title=de Mel, Sir Henry Lawson, (1877–8 May 1936), Member of the Legislative Council; Member of the Municipal Council; JP for the island; President Plumbago Merchants' Union; Proprietor H. L. de Mel & Co., merchants|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u213981}}</ref> Maclean also supervised the coastal people by holding regular court in Cape Coast where he punished those found guilty of disturbing the peace. Between 1830 and 1843 while Maclean was in charge of affairs on the Gold Coast, no confrontations occurred with Ashanti, and the volume of trade reportedly increased threefold.<ref name=bgc />

Maclean's exercise of limited judicial power on the coast was so effective that a parliamentary committee recommended that the British government permanently administer its settlements and negotiate treaties with the coastal chiefs that would define Britain's relations with them. The government did so in 1843, the same year crown government was reinstated. Commander H. Worsley Hill was appointed first governor of the Gold Coast.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1956|title=The Gold Coast (Ghana): Ministers And Officials III: The Key To Responsible Government |journal=Parliamentary Affairs|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a054448|issn=1460-2482}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Précis of the Treaties and Engagements between the British Government and the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast of the Persian Gulf |journal=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia Online|doi=10.1163/2405-447x_loro_com_110031}}</ref> Under Maclean's administration, several coastal tribes had submitted voluntarily to British protection. Hill proceeded to define the conditions and responsibilities of his jurisdiction over the protected areas. He negotiated a special treaty with a number of Fante and other local chiefs that became known as the Bond of 1844. This document obliged local leaders to submit serious crimes to British jurisdiction and laid the legal foundation for subsequent British colonization.<ref name=bgc /><ref>{{Citation|last1=Caldow|first1=Richard W.G.|title=Verifying predictions of statistical models to define the size and shape of marine Special Protection Areas for foraging seabirds (terns)|date=2020|work=Marine Protected Areas|pages=543–572|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-08-102698-4|last2=Perrow|first2=Martin R.|last3=Allen|first3=David|last4=Black|first4=Julie|last5=Bond|first5=Ian|last6=Harwood|first6=Andrew|last7=Liley|first7=Durwyn|last8=McCulloch|first8=Neil|last9=Murphy|first9=Matthew|doi=10.1016/b978-0-08-102698-4.00028-9|s2cid=210621308}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |date=31 January 1961 |title=British Emigration to British North America |last=Cowan |first=Helen |place=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto Press|doi=10.3138/9781442653177-009|isbn=978-1-4426-5317-7|chapter=VI. Colonization Leaders and Colonization Companies|pages=113–143 }}</ref>

[[File:Viscount Garnet Joseph Wolseley.jpeg|thumb|Major General Sir Garnet Wolseley]]

Military confrontations between Ashanti and the Fante contributed to the growth of British influence on the Gold Coast, as the Fante states—concerned about Ashanti activities on the coast—signed the <!-- There is no Wikipedia article for [[Bond of 1844]], Please create a article if you can. Thanks-->Bond of 1844 at Fomena-Adansi, that allowed the British to usurp judicial authority from African courts.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=The Hausa Force and the Religious Marketplace in the Fante States|title=The Ahmadiyya in the Gold Coast |last=Hanson |first=John H. |year=2017|pages=31–59|publisher=Indiana University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctt2005s3h.8|isbn=978-0-253-02951-5}}</ref> Additional coastal states as well as other states farther inland eventually signed the Bond, and British influence was accepted, strengthened, and expanded. Under the terms of the 1844 arrangement, the British gave the impression that they would protect the coastal areas; thus, an informal protectorate came into being.<ref>{{Citation|title=British Informal Influence in Ottoman Cyprus|date=2015|work=Protectorate Cyprus|publisher=I.B.Tauris|doi=10.5040/9780755623624.ch-001|isbn=978-1-78076-114-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Other dimensions of well-being: performance indicators: United States |journal= |doi=10.1787/888932778157}}</ref> As responsibilities for defending local allies and managing the affairs of the coastal protectorate increased, the administration of the Gold Coast was separated from that of Sierra Leone in 1850.<ref name=bgc /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kaberry|first=Phyllis|date=January 1952|title=Western Africa: Part II. The Peoples of Sierra Leone Protectorate|journal=International Affairs|volume=28|issue=1|pages=117|doi=10.2307/2605063|jstor=2605063|issn=1468-2346}}</ref>

Beginning in 1850, the coastal regions increasingly came under control of the governor of the British fortresses, who was assisted by the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. The Executive Council was a small advisory body of European officials that recommended laws and voted taxes, subject to the governor's approval.<ref name="auto">{{Citation|title=Sircar, Sir Nripendra Nath, (died 1945), Law Member of Executive Council of Governor-General of India, 1934–39; late Vice-President, Viceroy's Executive Council; Leader of Indian Legislative Assembly|date=2007-12-01|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u231810}}</ref> The Legislative Council included the members of the Executive Council and unofficial members initially chosen from British commercial interests. After 1900 three chiefs and three other Africans were added to the Legislative Council, though the inclusion of Africans from Ashanti and the Northern Territories did not take place until much later.<ref name=ca>McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "Colonial Administration".</ref> In April 1852, local chiefs and elders met at Cape Coast to consult with the governor on means of raising revenue. With the governor's approval, the council of chiefs constituted itself as a legislative assembly.<ref>{{Citation|title=Sharwood-Smith, Sir Bryan (Evers), (5 Jan. 1899–10 Oct. 1983), Governor, Northern Nigeria, 1954–57 (Lieut-Governor, and President Northern House of Chiefs, 1952–54); retd 1957|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u169029}}</ref> In approving its resolutions, the governor indicated that the assembly of chiefs should become a permanent fixture of the protectorate's constitutional machinery, but the assembly was given no specific constitutional authority to pass laws or to levy taxes without the consent of the people.<ref name=bgc /><ref>{{Citation|last=Barnett|first=Randy E.|title=Constitutional Legitimacy without Consent: Protecting the Rights Retained by the People|date=24 November 2013|work=Restoring the Lost Constitution|publisher=Princeton University Press|doi=10.23943/princeton/9780691159737.003.0003|isbn=978-0-691-15973-7}}</ref>

The Second Anglo-Ashanti War broke out in 1863 and lasted until 1864. In 1872, British influence over the Gold Coast increased further when Britain purchased [[Elmina Castle]], the last of the Dutch forts along the coast.<ref>Robin Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1974), p. 279.</ref> The Ashanti, who for years had considered the Dutch at [[Elmina]] as their allies, thereby lost their last trade outlet to the sea. To prevent this loss and to ensure that revenue received from that post continued, the Ashanti staged their last invasion of the coast in 1873.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brackenbury|first=Henry, Sir|title=Fanti and Ashanti|date=1873|publisher=W. Blackwood and Sons|doi=10.5479/sil.204747.39088000128199}}</ref> After early successes, they finally came up against well-trained British forces who compelled them to retreat beyond the [[Pra River (Ghana)|Pra River]]. Later attempts to negotiate a settlement of the conflict with the British were rejected by the commander of their forces, Major General Sir [[Garnet Wolseley]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Redgrave, Maj.-Gen. Sir Roy Michael Frederick, (16 Sept. 1925–3 July 2011), Commander, British Forces, Hong Kong, and Major-General Brigade of Gurkhas, 1978–80|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u32068}}</ref> The British invaded Ashanti with a sizable military force, initiating the Third [[Anglo-Ashanti War]]. The attack, which was launched in January 1874 by 2,500 British soldiers and large numbers of African auxiliaries, resulted in the occupation and burning of Kumasi, the Ashanti capital.<ref name=bgc /><ref name="Thompson 1995 12–50"/>
As a result of the exercise of ever-expanding judicial powers on the coast and also to ensure that the coastal peoples remained firmly under control, the British proclaimed the existence of the Gold Coast Colony on July 24, 1874, which extended from the coast inland to the edge of Ashanti territory.<ref name="auto2">{{Citation|title=Atta, Nana Sir Ofori, (11 Oct. 1881–24 Aug. 1943), Omanhene (Paramount Chief) of Akyem Abuakwa; an Unofficial Member, Executive Council of Gold Coast, since 1942; Provincial Member of the Legislative Council, Gold Coast Colony; President of the Provincial Council of Chiefs, Eastern Province, Gold Coast Colony; Member of the Board of Education, Gold Coast Colony; Director of Akim, Limited; Member of District Agricultural Committee, Akim Abuakwa|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u222064}}</ref> Though the coastal peoples were unenthusiastic about this development, there was no popular resistance.<ref name=ce>McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "The Colonial Era: British Rule of the Gold Coast".</ref> The subsequent peace treaty of 1875 required the Ashanti to renounce any claim to many southern territories. The Ashanti also had to keep the road to Kumasi open to trade. From this point on, Ashanti power steadily declined. The confederation slowly disintegrated as subject territories broke away and as protected regions defected to British rule.<ref name="Chipp 1922"/> Enforcement of the treaty led to recurring difficulties and outbreaks of fighting. In 1896, the British dispatched another expedition that again occupied Kumasi and that forced Ashanti to become a protectorate of the British Crown.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=March 1896|journal=The Lancet|volume=147|issue=3784|pages=659–661|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(01)93362-8|issn=0140-6736|title=The Ashanti Expedition}}</ref> This became the Fourth [[Anglo-Ashanti War]] which lasted from 1894 until 1896.

[[File:Gold Coast Map 1896.jpg|thumb|An 1896 map of the British Gold Coast Colony]]

In 1896, a British military force invaded Ashanti and overthrew the native ''Asantehene'', [[Prempeh I]].<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 281">Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875: A Modern History'', p. 281.</ref> The deposed Ashanti leader was replaced by a British resident at Kumasi.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 281" /> The British sphere of influence was, thus, extended to include Ashanti following their defeat in 1896. However, British Governor Hodgson went too far in his restrictions on the Ashanti when, in 1900, he demanded the "Golden Stool," the symbol of Ashanti rule and independence for the Ashanti. This led to the [[War of the Golden Stool]] against the British.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 281" /> The Ashanti were defeated again in 1901. Once the Asantehene and his council had been exiled, the British appointed a resident commissioner to Ashanti.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Triulzi|first=Alessandro|date=April 1972|title=The Asantehene-in-Council: Ashanti Politics Under Colonial Rule, 1935–1950|journal=Africa|volume=42|issue=2|pages=98–111|doi=10.2307/1158979|jstor=1158979|s2cid=145298491 |issn=0001-9720}}</ref> Each Ashanti state was administered as a separate entity and was ultimately responsible to the governor of the Gold Coast.<ref name="Chipp 1922"/>
In the meantime, the British became interested in the Northern Territories north of Ashanti, which they believed would forestall the advances of the French and the Germans. After 1896 protection was extended to northern areas whose trade with the coast had been controlled by Ashanti.<ref name="Chipp 1922"/> In 1898 and 1899, European colonial powers amicably demarcated the boundaries between the Northern Territories and the surrounding French and German colonies. The [[Northern Territories of the Gold Coast (British protectorate)|Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Protectorate]] was established as British protectorate on 26 September 1901.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leeke|first=R. H.|date=March 1917|title=The Northern Territories of the Uganda Protectorate|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=49|issue=3|pages=201–208|doi=10.2307/1779495|jstor=1779495|bibcode=1917GeogJ..49..201L |issn=0016-7398}}</ref> Unlike the Ashanti Colony, the Northern Territories were not annexed. However, like the Ashanti Colony they were placed under the authority of a resident commissioner who was responsible to the [[Governor of the Gold Coast]].<ref name="Chipp 1922"/> The Governor ruled both Ashanti and the Northern Territories by proclamations until 1946.<ref name=ce />

With the north under British control, the three territories of the Gold Coast—the Colony (the coastal regions), Ashanti, and the Northern Territories—became, for all practical purposes, a single political unit, or crown colony, known as the Gold Coast.<ref name="Chipp 1922"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Crow, Hugh, 1765–1829.|title=Memoirs of the late Captain Hugh Crow of Liverpool : comprising a narrative of his life together with descriptive sketches of the western coast of Africa, particularly of Bonny, the manners and customs of the inhabitants, the production of the soil and the trade of the country to which are added anecdotes and observations illustrative of the Negro character.|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-315-03322-8|oclc=958106117}}</ref> The borders of present-day Ghana were realized in May 1956 when the people of the Volta region, known as British Mandated Togoland, a vote was made in a plebiscite on whether [[British Togoland]] should become part of modern Ghana; the [[Togoland Congress]] voted 42% against. 58% of votes opted for integration.<ref name=ce />

==== Colonial administration ====

The gradual emergence of centralized colonial government brought about unified control over local services, although the actual administration of these services was still delegated to local authorities. Specific duties and responsibilities came to be clearly delineated, and the role of traditional states in local administration was also clarified.<ref>{{Citation|title=Chapter I. Internal Organization of Local Authorities|date=31 December 1960|work=Financial Administration in Local Government|pages=13–26|place=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto Press|doi=10.3138/9781487579906-003|isbn=978-1-4875-7990-6}}</ref> The structure of local government had its roots in traditional patterns of government. Village councils of chiefs and elders were responsible for the immediate needs of individual localities, including traditional law and order and the general welfare.<ref name="Baldwin 159–177">{{Citation|last=Baldwin|first=Kate|title=Chiefs and Government Responsiveness across Africa|work=The Paradox of Traditional Chiefs in Democratic Africa|year=2016|pages=159–177|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/cbo9781316422335.009|isbn=978-1-316-42233-5}}</ref> The councils ruled by consent rather than by right: though chosen by the ruling class, a chief continued to rule because he was accepted by his people.<ref name=ca /><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Politics. Seleukid rule and the Hellenistic ruling class.|journal=Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum|doi=10.1163/1874-6772_seg_a60_1990}}</ref>

[[File:Elmina slave castle.jpg|thumb|The Portuguese-built [[Elmina Castle]] as purchased by Britain in 1873. It is now a World Heritage Site.]]
British authorities adopted a system of indirect rule for colonial administration, wherein traditional chiefs maintained power but took instructions from their European supervisors. Indirect rule was cost-effective (by reducing the number of European officials needed), minimized local opposition to European rule, and guaranteed law and order.<ref>{{Citation|title=From Indirect to Direct Rule|work=The Invention of a European Development Aid Bureaucracy|year=2014|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|doi=10.1057/9781137318275_10 |isbn=978-1-137-31827-5}}</ref> Though theoretically decentralizing, indirect rule in practice caused chiefs to look to Accra (the capital) rather than to their people for decisions. Many chiefs, who were rewarded with honors, decorations, and knighthood by government commissioners, came to regard themselves as a ruling aristocracy.<ref name="Baldwin 159–177"/> In its preservation of traditional forms of power, indirect rule failed to provide opportunities for the country's growing population of educated young men. Other groups were dissatisfied because there was insufficient cooperation between the councils and the central government and because some felt that the local authorities were too dominated by the British district commissioners.<ref name=ca /><ref>{{Citation|title=Because We Were Different|work=Too Soon to Tell|year=2009|pages=135–139|place=Hoboken, NJ, US|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|doi=10.1002/9780470422403.ch28|isbn=978-0-470-42240-3}}</ref>

In 1925 provincial councils of chiefs were established in all three territories of the colony, partly to give the chiefs a colony-wide function. The 1927 Native Administration Ordinance clarified and regulated the powers and areas of jurisdiction of chiefs and councils.<ref>{{Citation|title=Recommendations for Police Chiefs and All People Interested in Supporting a Democracy|date=27 July 2017|work=Police Leadership in a Democracy|pages=153–156|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.1201/9781439808351-18|isbn=978-0-429-25087-3}}</ref> In 1935 the Native Authorities Ordinance combined the central colonial government and the local authorities into a single governing system.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=October 1935|title=Central and local authorities|journal=Tubercle|volume=17|issue=1|pages=43–44|doi=10.1016/s0041-3879(35)80807-6|issn=0041-3879}}</ref> New native authorities, appointed by the governor, were given wide powers of local government under the supervision of the central government's provincial commissioners, who made sure that their policies would be those of the central government.<ref>{{Citation|title=12. The Means of Control by the Central Government over the Local Authorities|date=31 December 1934|work=English Local Government|pages=287–322|publisher=Columbia University Press|doi=10.7312/fine91018-012|isbn=978-0-231-88164-7}}</ref> The provincial councils and moves to strengthen them were not popular. Even by British standards, the chiefs were not given enough power to be effective instruments of indirect rule. Some Ghanaians believed that the reforms, by increasing the power of the chiefs at the expense of local initiative, permitted the colonial government to avoid movement toward any form of popular participation in the colony's government.<ref name=ca />

==== Economic and social development ====
The years of British administration of the Gold Coast during the 20th century were an era of significant progress in social, economic, and educational development. Communications and railroads were greatly improved. Poverty fell significantly and Ghanaian peasantry flourished.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Austin|first1=Gareth|last2=Baten|first2=Jörg|last3=Moradi|first3=Alexander|date=2009|title=Exploring the evolution of living standards in Ghana, 1880–2000: An anthropometric approach|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=No.+57+%22Exploring+the+evolution+of+living+standards+in+Ghana%2C+1880-2000%3A+An+anthropometric+approach%E2%80%9D+with+Gareth+Austin+and+Alexander+Moradi&btnG=|journal=Economic History Society Conference, Exeter|volume=(20 March-1 April 2007)}}</ref> New crops were introduced.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cantor|first=Geoffrey|title=Fox, Robert Were (1789–1877)|journal=The Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists|year=2004|doi=10.5040/9781350052529-0416|isbn=9781350052529}}</ref> A leading crop that was the result of an introduced crop was coffee.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 327" /> However, most spectacular among these introduced crops was the cocoa tree which had been indigenous to the New World and had been introduced in Africa by the Spanish and Portuguese.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 327">Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875: A Modern History'', p. 327.</ref> Cocoa had been introduced to the Gold Coast in 1879 by [[Tetteh Quashie]].<ref>Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875: A Modern History'', pp. 327–328.</ref> Cocoa tree raising and farming became widely accepted in the eastern part of the Gold Coast.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 327" /> In 1891, the Gold Coast exported 80&nbsp;lbs of cocoa worth no more than 4 pounds sterling. By the 1920s cocoa exports had passed 200,000 tons and had reached a value of 4.7&nbsp;million pounds sterling.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=4 February 1957|title=Glycerol Output Beats Records|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|volume=35|issue=5|pages=104|doi=10.1021/cen-v035n005.p104|issn=0009-2347}}</ref> Cacao production became a major part of the economy of the Gold coast and later a major part of Ghana's economy.<ref name=esd>McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "Economic and Social Development".</ref>

The colony's earnings increased further from the export of timber and gold. Revenue from export of the colony's natural resources financed internal improvements in infrastructure and social services.<ref name="ref888933907963">{{Cite journal |title=Figure 5.4. Revenue from export taxes |journal= |doi=10.1787/888933907963}}</ref> The foundation of an educational system more advanced than any other else in West Africa also resulted from mineral export revenue.<ref name="ref888933907963"/> It was through British-style education that a new Ghanaian elite was created. From beginnings in missionary schools, the early part of the 20th century saw the opening of secondary schools and the country's first institute of higher learning.<ref name=esd />

Many of the economic and social improvements in the Gold Coast in the early part of the 20th century have been attributed to the Canadian-born [[Gordon Guggisberg]], governor from 1919 to 1927.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 303">Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875: a Modern History'', p. 303.</ref> Within the first six weeks of his governorship, he presented a ten-year development programme to the Legislative Council.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 303" /> He suggested first the improvement of [[Transport in Ghana|transportation]]. Then, in order of priority, his prescribed improvements included water supply, drainage, hydroelectric projects, public buildings, town improvements, schools, hospitals, prisons, communication lines, and other services.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2004|title=Medical schools conflict of interest policies improve; additional improvements suggested |doi=10.1037/e648622011-003|url=http://ori.dhhs.gov/html/publications/newsletters.asp |journal=Office of Research Integrity |access-date=17 August 2021|archive-date=14 December 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041214094303/http://ori.dhhs.gov/html/publications/newsletters.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Guggisberg also set a goal of filling half of the colony's technical positions with Africans as soon as they could be trained. His programme has been described as the most ambitious ever proposed in West Africa up to that time.<ref name=esd />

The colony assisted Britain in both [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. In the ensuing years, however, postwar inflation and instability severely hampered readjustment for returning veterans, who were in the forefront of growing discontent and unrest.<ref>{{Citation|last=McLoughlin|first=Kate|title=Three War Veterans Who Don't Tell War Stories|date=26 April 2018|work=The First World War|publisher=British Academy|doi=10.5871/bacad/9780197266267.003.0002|isbn=978-0-19-726626-7|s2cid=186638871 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:97012ba9-8902-4f2b-8c74-64ed7f75eeb4}}</ref> Their war service and veterans' associations had broadened their horizons, making it difficult for them to return to the humble and circumscribed positions set aside for Africans by the colonial authorities.<ref name=esd />

=== Growth of nationalism and the end of colonial rule ===
As Ghana developed economically, education of the citizenry progressed apace. In 1890 there were only 5 government and 49 "assisted" mission schools in the whole of the Gold Coast with a total enrollment of only 5,000.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 341" /> By 1920 there were 20 governmental schools, 188 "assisted" mission and 309 "unassisted" mission schools with a total enrollment of 43,000 pupils.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 341" /> By 1940, there were 91,000 children attending Gold Coast schools. By 1950, the 279,000 children attending some 3,000 schools in the Gold Coast.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 341">Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875: A Modern History'', p. 341.</ref> This meant that, in 1950, 43.6% of the school-age children in the Gold Coast colony were attending school.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 341" />

Thus by the end of the Second World War, the Gold Coast colony was the richest and most educated territories in West Africa.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 341" /> Within this educated environment, the focus of government power gradually shifted from the hands of the governor and his officials into those of Ghanaians, themselves. The changes resulted from the gradual development of a strong spirit of nationalism and were to result eventually in independence.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Figure 2.5. The Japanese wage system has gradually shifted from its traditional seniority pay system |journal= |date=11 December 2018 |doi=10.1787/888933890540}}</ref> The development of national consciousness accelerated quickly in the post-World War II era, when, in addition to ex-servicemen, a substantial group of urban African workers and traders emerged to lend mass support to the aspirations of a small educated minority.<ref>{{Citation|last=Wongsrichanalai|first=Kanisorn|title=To Put Those Theories into Practice|date=1 June 2016|work=Northern Character|pages=86–111|publisher=Fordham University Press|doi=10.5422/fordham/9780823271818.003.0005|isbn=978-0-8232-7181-8}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Chapter 6. A Strong Resolve for Independence|date=31 December 2017|work=The Spirit of Independence|pages=51–53|place=Honolulu|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|doi=10.1515/9780824864446-013|isbn=978-0-8248-6444-6}}</ref>

==== Early manifestations of nationalism in Ghana ====
By the late 19th century, a growing number of educated Africans increasingly found unacceptable an arbitrary political system that placed almost all power in the hands of the governor through his appointment of council members.<ref name="Duke University Press">{{Citation|title=Colonialism and the Educated Africans|date=2014|work=Postcolonial Modernism|pages=21–37|publisher=Duke University Press|doi=10.1215/9780822376309-002|isbn=978-0-8223-5732-2}}</ref> In the 1890s, some members of the educated coastal elite organized themselves into the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society to protest a land bill that threatened traditional land tenure.<ref>{{Citation |last=Power|first=Thomas P.|title=Land Tenure|date=28 October 1993|work=Land, Politics, and Society in Eighteenth-Century Tipperary|pages=119–173|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203162.003.0004|isbn=978-0-19-820316-2}}</ref><ref name="Duke University Press"/> This protest helped lay the foundation for political action that would ultimately lead to independence. In 1920, one of the African members of the Legislative Council, [[J. E. Casely Hayford|Joseph E. Casely-Hayford]], convened the National Congress of British West Africa.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 353">Hallett, ''Africa Since 1875: A Modern History'', p. 353.</ref> The National Congress demanded a wide range of reforms and innovations for British West Africa.<ref name="Robin Hallett p. 353" />

The National Congress sent a delegation to London to urge the Colonial Office to consider the principle of elected representation. The group, which claimed to speak for all British West African colonies, represented the first expression of political solidarity between intellectuals and nationalists of the area.<ref>{{Citation|last=Korang|first=Kwaku Larbi|title=British West African National Congress|date=27 April 2010|work=African American Studies Center|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.47789|isbn=978-0-19-530173-1}}</ref> Though the delegation was not received in London (on the grounds that it represented only the interests of a small group), its actions aroused considerable support among the African elite at home.<ref name=emn>McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "Early Manifestations of Nationalism".</ref>

Notwithstanding their call for elected representation as opposed to a system whereby the governor appointed council members, these nationalists insisted that they were loyal to the British Crown and that they merely sought an extension of British political and social practices to Africans.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Labour Representation Committee members of the British parliament elected in 1906|date=2007-05-24|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/96943|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8}}</ref> Notable leaders included [[Africanus Horton]], the writer [[John Mensah Sarbah]], and <!-- There is no Wikipedia article for [[S. R. B. Attah-Ahoma]], Please create a article if you can. Thanks-->S. R. B. Attah-Ahoma. Such men gave the nationalist movement a distinctly elitist flavour that was to last until the late 1940s.<ref name=emn />

The constitution of April 8, 1925, promulgated by Guggisberg, created provincial councils of paramount chiefs for all but the northern provinces of the colony.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kratz|first=Corinne A.|date=1991|title=Paramount Chiefs of Sierra Leone|journal=African Arts|volume=24|issue=4|pages=86|doi=10.2307/3337047|jstor=3337047|issn=0001-9933}}</ref> These councils in turn elected six chiefs as unofficial members of the Legislative Council, which however had an inbuilt British majority and whose powers were in any case purely advisory.<ref name="auto2"/> Although the new constitution appeared to recognize some African sentiments, Guggisberg was concerned primarily with protecting British interests.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Moral Sentiments and Material Interests|title=Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life|
date=2005|publisher=The MIT Press|doi=10.7551/mitpress/4771.003.0004|isbn=978-0-262-27386-2}}</ref> For example, he provided Africans with a limited voice in the central government; yet, by limiting nominations to chiefs, he drove a wedge between chiefs and their educated subjects. The intellectuals believed that the chiefs, in return for British support, had allowed the provincial councils to fall completely under control of the government.<ref name="Baldwin 159–177"/> By the mid-1930s, however, a gradual rapprochement between chiefs and intellectuals had begun.<ref name=emn />

Agitation for more adequate representation continued. Newspapers owned and managed by Africans played a major part in provoking this discontent—six were being published in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Figure 6.8. Immigrant-owned firms were more likely to be job creators |journal= |date=26 November 2019 |doi=10.1787/888934066425}}</ref> As a result of the call for broader representation, two more unofficial African members were added to the Executive Council in 1943. Changes in the Legislative Council, however, had to await a different political climate in London, which came about only with the postwar election of a British Labour Party government.<ref name=emn />

The new Gold Coast constitution of March 29, 1946, was a bold document. For the first time, the concept of an official majority was abandoned.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Burns, Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell (1887–1980)|date=28 November 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|series=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|doi=10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.013.30877}}</ref> The Legislative Council was now composed of six ex-officio members, six nominated members, and eighteen elected members, however the Legislative Council continued to have purely advisory powers – all executive power remained with the governor.<ref name="auto1">{{Citation|title=Ramanathan, Sir Ponnambalam, (1851–1930), KC 1903; MLC, Ceylon; a Member of Board of Education of Ceylon and of Council of Ceylon University College; HM's Solicitor-General, Ceylon, 1892–1906; the first elected member to represent the educated Ceylonese in the Reformed Legislative Council of Ceylon, 1912; re-elected for 1917–21; appointed by the Governor as a nominated unofficial member of the reorganised Legislative Council, 1921; re-elected by the people for five years from 1924|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u215916}}</ref> The 1946 constitution also admitted representatives from Ashanti into the council for the first time. Even with a Labour Party government in power, however, the British continued to view the colonies as a source of raw materials that were needed to strengthen their crippled economy.<ref>{{Citation|last=Evans|first=Mark|title=Freedom of Information and Open Government|date=2003|work=Constitution-Making and the Labour Party|pages=187–214|place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|doi=10.1057/9780230502260_8|isbn=978-1-349-41700-1}}</ref> Change that would place real power in African hands was not a priority among British leaders until after [[1948 Accra Riots|rioting and looting in Accra]] and other towns and cities in early 1948 over issues of pensions for ex-servicemen, the dominant role of settler-colonists in the economy, the shortage of housing, and other economic and political grievances.<ref name=emn />

With elected members in a decisive majority, Ghana had reached a level of political maturity unequalled anywhere in colonial Africa. The constitution did not, however, grant full self-government. Executive power remained in the hands of the governor, to whom the Legislative Council was responsible.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=October 1936|title=Members Elected by the Executive Council|journal=Africa|volume=9|issue=4|pages=543|doi=10.1017/s0001972000008986|s2cid=245910374 |issn=0001-9720}}</ref> Hence, the constitution, although greeted with enthusiasm as a significant milestone, soon encountered trouble. World War II had just ended, and many Gold Coast veterans who had served in British overseas expeditions returned to a country beset with shortages, inflation, unemployment, and black-market practices. There veterans, along with discontented urban elements, formed a nucleus of malcontents ripe for disruptive action.<ref>{{Citation|title=Medals of Honor Presented to Black Veterans of World War II (1997)|date=30 September 2009|work=African American Studies Center|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.33755|isbn=978-0-19-530173-1}}</ref> They were now joined by farmers, who resented drastic governmental measures required to cut out diseased cacao trees in order to control an epidemic, and by many others who were unhappy that the end of the war had not been followed by economic improvements.<ref name=emn />

==== 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 />