Editing History of Ghana (section)

=== 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 />