george padmore--the gold coast revolution[1]

8/3/2019 George Padmore--The Gold Coast Revolution[1]

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KWAME NKRUMAHfr lnt the Assembly without the slightestfeeling ofbitterness to Britain. I stand for no racialism, no discrim-ination agamst any race or individual, but I am unalterablyopposed to imperialism in any form'-PRIME MINISTER NKRUMAH

(The Times, 14.2.51)


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THE GOLD COASTREVOLUTION

The Struggle of an African Peoplefrom Slavery to Freedom

GEORGE PADMORE

LondonDENNIS DOBSON LTD


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FIRST PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN MCMLIII BYDENNIS DOBSON LIMITED, LONDON SWIALL RIGHTS RESERVEDPRINTED AND BOUND IN GREAT BRITAINBY JARROLD AND SONS LTD, NORWICH

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Dedicated to Dorothy,who encouraged me to write

this account ofGhana9sstrugglefor Freedom


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CONTENTSCHAPTER PAGE

Introduction iI European Settlements in the Gold Coast 1 1

II Early Development of Gold CoastNationalism 26III Aborigines' Society and National Congress 36IV United Gold Coast Convention 54V Convention People's Party 67VI Constitutional Evolution, 1850-1950 - 87VII First General Election 106VIII The Government and the Opposition 118IX Local Government Reforms 138X Irredentist Nationalism 152XI Comparative Study of NationalistMovements 168XII Pattern of Gold Coast Economy 194XIII Problems of Economic Development 215

Appendix I 245Appendix II 252Appendix III 254Index 267


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INTRODUCTION

THE PURPOSE OF this book is to trace the evolu-tion ofGold Coast nationalismfromthefoundationof the Ashanti Confederacy to the emergence ofthe Convention People's Party and after. It makes nopretence to be a detailed constitutional history of theGold Coast. The emphasis of the book is upon the riseand development of post-war nationalism, in particularthe economic and social unrest leading to the promulga-tion of the Coussey Constitution in 1950 and the methodsofagitation used by the several nationalist pressure groupsand political organizations in conducting the struggle forconstitutional reforms and independence.While political consciousness among the masses issomething quite recent. Gold Coast nationalism has deeproots and a long tradition founded in well-establishedpolitical institutions. Present-day nationalism also drawsemotional inspiration from the former Sudanic EmpireofGhana, whence, from the thirteenth century, migratedthe Akan tribes to the territories they now occupy.Hence the new name Ghana which the nationalists haveadopted for the Gold Coast.

'Having his origins in Western Sudan*, the Gold CoastAfrican has been described as ca born individualist, virileand irrepressible by nature', who 'tends to be suspiciousof outside influence and intolerant of dictatorial methodsin any form.' 1Thanks to their traditional spirit of independence,

1 Report on Gold Coast Constitutional Reform, Colonial No. 248,p. 8.


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2 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONthe Akans were able to evolve a high degree of politicalcohesion long before they came into contact with Euro-pean nations. Both the Ashanti and the Fanti branchesof the Akans had created well-defined governments andstates contemporaneous with the Stuart period inEngland. And although the hereditary system is recog-nized in the Gold Coast, 'democratic principles in themain underlie the traditional principles of this country.No chief, for example, speaks as the head of his state,except with the consent and approval of his councillors,who are the acknowledged representatives ofthe people.'1The elders and the people also reserve the sovereignright to get rid of an autocratic and dictatorial ruler bydestooling him. The Stool (or throne) is the symbol ofchieftaincy. The conception of democracy, therefore, isnothing new to Gold Coast Africans. The introductionofWestern parliamentary democracy as part ofthe recentconstitutional changes cis rather to emphasize its vitalimportance in a reformed system of government and toprovide for a fuller realization ofan imperfectly realizedidea5 . 2However, in attempting to create a more perfect demo-

cracy, Gold Coast nationalist leaders traditionalists andreformers are agreed upon conserving the best of theircountry's political and social institutions and adaptingthem to the requirements of the twentieth century. Forexample, the Nkrumah Government are retaining theinstitution of chieftaincy and at the same time haverestored to the common people those sanctions andpowers of control over the chiefs which they exercisedbefore the British transformed them from constitutionalrulers into imperialist agents under the system ofIndirectRule or so-called Native Authorities.Although the chiefs will no longer play the role of

political agents of the British Government, chieftaincy,1 Report on Gold Coast Constitutional Reform^ Colonial No. 248,

p. 15-" 2 Ibid.


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INTRODUCTION 3as a socio-religious institution, still has strong roots in the,life of the people, especially in the rural areas andthroughout the Northern Territories.Until recent official pronouncement, the role of chief-taincy in the rapidly evolving society of the Gold Coastwas in doubt. Now that the status of the chiefs has beendefined in relation to the democratically based centraland local government, it may still be possible to makeuse of their prestige in their traditional capacity asfathers of their people, giving moral leadership and wisecounsel to their subjects in the building of a healthy andvirile modern democratic society. What they make ofthisnew opportunity depends upon the chiefs themselves. Forthere is a substantial body of opinion among educatedAfricans, not only in the Gold Coast but elsewhere, thatchieftaincy is a social anachronism that must adapt itselfto the rapidly changing social order or disappear, ifAfrica is to take her place in the modern world.AIMS AND METHODS OF BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY

While the ultimate goal of British colonial policy hasbeen frequently enunciated and the broad lines ofadvance indicated, no Secretary of State for ColoniesTory, Liberal or Socialist has ever set a time-limit fora colony's emergence into complete self-government orindependence. The rate of progress is set by the degreeof pressure put upon the imperial authority by thenatives themselves. This in its turn depends upon thedegree ofpolitical consciousness in a colonial population,and the ability of the leaders to mobilize popularsupport behind the demands of the nationalist movementfor rapid constitutional advance. It is only when masspressure has assumed an explosive character that theimperialists grudgingly make any substantial con-cessions. If the people make no demands, their rulersmake no changes. That has been the history of everysubject nation, as I have shown in the comparative


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4 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONstudy of nationalist movements in Chapter XI. Inthis respect the Gold Coast has been no exception. It hasreached its present stage by long efforts of agitation,sometimes assuming the form of 'Positive Action'.Whatever the form and method resorted to as a meansof accelerating the pace of constitutional advance, thecolonial territories pass through five well-defined stagesbefore reaching complete self-government. This patternof British colonial policy evolved not as the result of apremeditated philosophy, but grew empirically as aformer Under-Secretary of State for Colonies, LordCranborne, has pointed out. 'We have no cut and driedpattern5 , he once admitted. cWe have adopted andadapted existing systems, changing them readily as theneed arose and experience taught. 3 This approach istypically British for, like the Romans, they are funda-mentally a practical people who despise theory.The first and longest stage of British colonial govern-ment is a form of benevolent dictatorship. The Governoris vested with all legislative and executive powers. In theperformance of his duties he is usually advised by acouncil consisting of senior British officials and a fewhand-picked prominent upper-class natives. Since theofficial majority can always outvote the unofficial (i.e.non-civil servant) minority members, all legislation pro-posed by the Governor to the Council is assured ofadoption.The introduction ofthe elective principle ushers in thesecond stage. This concession is at first limited to themiddle-class stratum of the population and is based oneducational and property qualifications. Members electedon this limited franchise, together with certain nominatedunofficial members, still constitute a minority in theLegislative Council. The Governor is still in a positionto get his policies endorsed. Describing the Reichstag-likeperformance of ex-qfficio members, Sir Anton Bertramsays that 'the sight of a long row of officials who scarcely


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INTRODUCTION 5otherwise open their lips, exclaiming "yes" and "no" insuccession, by official order, whatever their privateopinions may be, moves the resentment of politicallyminded spectators 3 . 1By degrees the number ofelected members is increasedand the franchise is widened until the point of universalsuffrage is reached. This process leads to the electedmembers becoming a majority in the Council and theofficial members receding. At this stage of constitutionaladvance, the Governor is no longer guaranteed an officialmajority vote in support of his policies* To counteractthis position within the Legislature, the Governor'spowers are sustained outside of it by the powers of certi-fication and veto which are conferred upon him. Thatis to say, he can refuse assent to any Bill passed by theunofficial majority or can make law any Bill presentedto the Council but rejected by the unofficial majority.Such action is taken in the interests of public order,public faith and good government.These special powers of the Governor in effect neutra-lize the elected majority in the Legislature, and theemphasis moves from the Legislature to the Executive,which is the instrument of government. The struggle forpower is sharpened, and to placate the nationalist hungerfor real power the Governor invariably co-opts a few ofthe elected unofficial members of the Legislative Councilon to his Executive Council, which at this stage has anex-officio majority.This step marks the end of representative governmentand the beginning of the third stage, that of responsiblegovernment. The emphasis from now is upon convertingthe unofficial minority in the Executive into an unofficialmajority. This is achieved step by step until the unofficialmembers of the Executive are given control of groups ofcivil service departments. This might be described as theembryo ministerial stage. More and more authority is

1 The Colonial Service by Sir Anton Bertram, C.U.P., p. 175.


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6 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONdelegate4 over internal affairs. The key posts of defenceand external affairs, finance and justice are firmly heldby the last three ex-qfficio representatives in the Executive,namely, the Colonial Secretary, the Financial Secretaryand the Attorney-General. This trio represents the lastresidue of the imperial authority, which remains until thefinal stage ofgraduation from Crown Colony governmentto full self-government is reached.The evolutionary process is completed when the threeex-officio Ministers disappear from the Legislature andsurrender their portfolios to representative nativeministers, retire to their substantive positions as ordinarycivil servants and cease playing politicians. With theirdeparture, the Executive Council becomes wholly un-official and the Leader of the Legislature emerges as thePrime Minister. This may sometimes, as in the GoldCoast, take place even before the formal retirement ofthe ex-officio members from the Executive. But it is alwaysa sign of the expiration of their term in the Executive orCabinet.Having reached this fourth stage, a colony can be said

to be on the threshold of independence. It is now onlyleft for the Governor to relinquish his powers ofveto andcertification and to act solely upon the advice of hisministers. When all the technical details have beencompleted and the constitutional instrument, namelyan Act ofIndependence, passed by the British Parliamentto give legality to the new status, the colony can be saidto have reached the fifth stage of a Dominion with theright, as provided by the Statute of Westminster, toremain a member of the Commonwealth or to secede.Membership of the Commonwealth must not be con-fused with the right to self-determination. This last is thedirect concern of the colonial people and the Britishimperial government, and does not require the assentof the other Commonwealth members. However, inrecent years, some British imperialist spokesmen such


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as the Tory Colonial Secretary, Mr Oliver Lyttelton,have asserted that the Dominions have first to be con-sulted regarding the admission ofnew members into theCommonwealth cclub\ If this latest interpretation ofBritish constitutional procedure is correct, Britain maywell be the loser if she continues to allow her attitudeto the coloured races of the Commonwealth and Empireto be influenced by South Africa's Apartheid andHerrenvolk doctrines*As I have shown in Chapter VI, up to the end of the

last war the rate and degree of constitutional reform inthe Gold Coast was regulated by the Colonial Office toconform as closely as possible to the empirical methodsof British imperial practice. Beginning from absoluteautocracy, the Gold Coast got its first Crown ColonyLegislative Council in 1850. It was not until 1925 thatthe second stage was reached, when the principle ofelected representatives was conceded. The elected repre-sentatives remained a minority until 1946. After that thepace quickened. Between 1946 and 1950, the Colonysecured two constitutions as compared with three duringthe whole previous period: in 1850, 1916 and 1925. Thelatest reform has brought the Colony to full responsiblegovernment the threshold of Dominion status.

Closely inter-related' with the latest constitutionalreforms and the new status of the chiefs in the contextofresponsible government is the land tenure system thevery basis of economic democracy. The right of owner-ship continues to be vested collectively in the tribesrepresented by the Stools; while the administration andcontrol over the use of land has been transferred fromthe Chieftain Councils to the newly established localgovernment councils elected jointly by the citizens andtraditional authorities. This bloodless agrarian revolu-tion will enable the Government to make the best use ofthe land for carrying out its agricultural and industrialdevelopment plans. It will at the same time prevent the


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8 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONemergence of native landlordism and arrest foreignexploitation of the timber and mineral resources of thecountry.LAST CHANCE IN AFRICAThe Gold Coast Revolution, which is still unfolding,

has already given inspiration and impetus to Africans inother parts of the once Dark Continent. Dr Nkrumahand his Cabinet colleagues have given more than a hintof the potentialities of African statesmanship even whenthe political aspirations of a dependent people have beenonly partially satisfied. As long as colonial nationalistsare condemned to remain frustrated by the denial ofactive and fruitful participation in the administration oftheir countries, there is no hope of peace, progress, orprosperity in Africa.

Africa can only be economically developed with theactive co-operation and willing support of the Africansthemselves, and their goodwill will not be secured untilthey are given the opportunity of shouldering the politi-cal responsibilities of self-government. The problemsfacing Africa are manifold, and in East and CentralAfrica they are aggravated by the complexities of whatare fashionably termed 'plural societies', that is, areassettled by Europeans. In these territories there is muchtalk from the alien communities about 'trusteeship' andpartnership'; but it is quite certain that the deep prob-lems affecting every facet of the Africans 5 lives will onlybegin to be tackled when the settlers start to translatetheir shibboleths into action by conceding in practice fulleconomic, political and social equality to the indigenouspeoples of the countries in which they seek to makepermanent homes.In the development of their long-neglected continentthe Africans will need the aid and advice of men of allraces white, brown, yellow and of all creeds, who areready to work with them in true partnership and equality,


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INTRODUCTION 9not as masters and slaves. Africans are sick and weary ofhaving high-sounding lofty declarations flung at themwhile the colour bar and other racial disabilities are ever-present realities restricting their development and pro-gress and stifling their human dignity. They are frus-trated. They have lost faith. They ask not for words andempty promises, but for concrete deeds offriendship andgoodwill. Britain is today squandering her last imperialassets the trust and loyalty of her coloured citizens.For too long have Africans slept. But now they areawakening and rapidly to the realization of their in-ferior status, to a consciousness of their rights in theworld of men and nations. And having awakened, theywill not again fall back to sleep. They will fight and byevery means, as recent events have only too well demon-strated to secure their rightful heritage as free people ina free world.In this struggle the political advance ofthe Gold Coasthas been a source of hope and inspiration. Today, theGold Coast is one of the few healthy political spots forblack men in tropical Africa. Its denial of self-govern-ment at this advanced stage by a British GovernmentConservative or Socialist would deal one further blowto the hope of peaceful constitutional progress in theAfrican Continent. It devolves, therefore, upon the GoldCoast people to press forward united on the last stagesto self-government. It is equally the responsibility of theBritish Parliament and people to meet these demandswith goodwill and sincerity, so that they may, in somesmall measure, help to restore faith in unfulfilled Britishpromises to prepare Africans for 'Dominion statuswithin the Commonwealth5 .


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IEUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS,

IN THE GOLD COASTATHOUGH THE COLONIAL problem in Africa hasbeen a lively one ever since the European powersembarked upon the scramble for the division ofthe so-called Dark Continent in the last quarter of thenineteenth century, public opinion in Britain has neverbeen so much concerned with events in Africa as sincethe end of the Second World War.

Today, imperialism has come home to roost! Through-out the African continent, especially in the Gold Coast,the indigenous peoples, inspired by the newly won in-dependence of India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma, arechallenging the status quo.

In the southern, central, and eastern territories, thepolicy of Apartheid and other Herrenvolk doctrines ofracialsegregation and colour bar are arousing bitter resent-ment among the Africans, giving rise to demands forracial equality, democratic rights and self-government.This post-war agitation for social equality and humanrights has now become part and parcel of the nationalliberation movements.'The problem of the twentieth century is the problemof the colour line', and there can be no true partnership,no genuine co-operation, except on a basis of absoluteracial equality. This in turn can only be realized byabolishing the inequality of nations and peoples underthe centuries-old and discredited system of colonialism

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12 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONand imperialism. In the same way as the United Statesby the time of the Civil War could not continue to existhalf-free and half-slave, so today the world cannot existpartly self-governing and partly colonial. It is sheer poli-tical dishonesty and humbug for the Western democraticpowers to denounce Soviet imperialism while they them-selves maintain any vestige of colonialism and continueto practise their own forms of imperialism, however dis-guised. Perhaps because the peoples of Eastern Europeare white while those over whom the Western powers(Britain, Belgium, Portugal, France and South Africa)exercise dominion are Africans and Asians, they feeljustified in continuing to bear 'the white man's burden'.All nations and races must be absolutely free if lastingpeace, security and prosperity are ever to be attained.Until this fact is realized and acted upon, Britain cannottruly lay claim to that moral leadership which herstatesmen boast is hers. 'Most men in the world arecoloured. A beliefin humanity means a beliefin colouredman. . . . For the future world will in all reasonablepossibility be what the coloured men make it.' 1 In aworld torn between conflicting and irreconcilableideologies, Africa may yet be a deciding factor ininternational affairs.How did the Colonial problem in Africa arise? Thiscan best be answered by reviewing briefly the firstrelationships between Europeans and Africans. While theconquest and partitioning of Africa was only carried outduring the latter part of the nineteenth century theheyday of modern imperialism Europeans have beenexploiting Africans ever since the fifteenth century, whenthey first made contact with the Gold Coast and otherparts of West Africa as slave traders.

1 The Century of the Colour Line by Dr W. E. B. DuBois. PittsburghCourier pamphlet.


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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS 13THE SLAVE TRADEAlthough certain historians claim that French naviga-tors were the first Europeans to visit the Gold Coast in the

fourteenth century, the Portuguese were in fact the firstwhite people to establish a permanent foothold on theWest African coast. Inspired by Prince Henry, surnamed'The Navigator5 , these Portuguese seamen sailed alongthe western coast ofAfrica and reached the mouth of theSenegal river in 1444. From there they moved graduallysouth until they reached the Gold Coast in 1471. Therethey established a permanent settlement at Elmina in1482, which they called Fort San Jorge. Similar settle-ments were made by the Portuguese all along the Guineacoast from Nigeria to Angola in their voyages round theCape of Good Hope on their way to the Far East.As the Portuguese consolidated their positions along

the Guinea coast, they started to carry on legitimatetrade with the natives in gold, ivory, native cloths,pepper, spices and other tropical condiments then ingreat demand in western Europe. In exchange, theEuropean traders supplied the African chiefs with gunsand gunpowder, gin, beads, knives and other manu-factured commodities. At first there was no attempt toannex territory or to enslave the blacks. Trade andcommerce in goods was the predominant basis of therelationship between the two races. Apart from a fewhundred Negroes taken by sea captains to Europe towork as domestic servants and labourers on the estatesof Spanish and Portuguese aristocratic families, the needfor chattel slaves on a commercial scale had not thenarisen, since feudalism prevailed still throughout theIberian peninsula.Trade and commerce in human beings only replacedlegitimate trade and commerce in goods following thediscoveryoftheAmericas and West Indies. Then, and onlythen, did West Africa become commercially important


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14 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONto the New World. The slave trade soon became themain cause of commercial rivalry and war between themaritime powers ofwestern Europe, especially England,France and Holland, from the seventeenth to the earlynineteenth century. It was precisely to avoid suchquarrels between Spain and Portugal, the two leadingCatholic powers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,that Pope Alexander VI issued a Papal Bull in 1493dividing up the territories discovered by Catholic navi-gators between the rulers of these countries to the exclu-sion of all others. For example, Spain got exclusive rightsin the New World and Portugal in Africa and the East.Therefore, when the need of labour in the SpanishAmerican and West Indian colonies arose, following theextermination of the indigenous Carib and ArawakIndian populations by the early European settlers, theKing of Spain had to make an agreement with the Kingof Portugal to supply his New World colonies withNegroes to replace the Indians. This agreement was thecelebrated 'Asiento5 . The Portuguese enjoyed this trademonopoly until they were expelled from the Gold Coastby the Dutch, who captured Fort San Jorge at Elminain 1637 and Fort St Anthony at Axim in 1642. Havingsecured the 'Asiento' contract, the Dutch West IndiaCompany, founded in 1621, gradually established newsettlements all along the Gold Coast. Throughout theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries keen competitionexisted between the Dutch, British, Danes, Swedes andBrandenburgers all ofwhom were engaged in the slavetrade, then the most lucrative form ofEuropean colonialcommerce.

After the Danes had driven out the Swedes, who hadbuilt Christiansborg Castle1 near Accra in 1661, theirinfluence expanded rapidly along the eastern coastalareas, from Accra to Ada and Keta. The Danes exercised

1 The castle was first used as a depot for slaves, then as a lunaticasylum, and now as the official residence of the Governor.


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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS 15a virtual protectorate over the Akwapim and Volta riverarea, from which parts of the Gold Coast they suppliedslaves to the Danish West Indian colonies. The Danessold their interests in the Gold Coast to the British in 1850and finally withdrew from West Africa.The British connection with the Gold Coast goes backto the period of the first Queen Elizabeth, when SirJohnHawkins sailed to West Africa in the good ship Jesus in1562 and brought the first Africans back to England forsale. From the sixteenth century the British, operatingthrough the Company of Royal Adventurers of EnglandTrading to Africa and the Royal African Company,fought tooth and nail to secure the 'Asiento', the much-prized contract for the supply of slaves to the Spanishcolonies in South America and the West Indies. This wassecured under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The termsof this settlement of the War of the Spanish Successiongave the English the exclusive .right to supply the bulk ofNegroes to the West Indian plantations until the tradewas abolished in 1807. Those obtained from the GoldCoast were known as Koromantis, after the first Britishfort built at Koromanti in 1631.In fairness to the white men, it must be said that theydid not go slave hunting themselves. This part of theoperations they left to their black purveyors, who keptthe various depots or forts scattered along the coast sup-plied with human merchandise. While the black mancannot escape responsibility for helping to enslave hisbrother Africans, the major blame must rest squarely onthe shoulders ofthe civilized Christian white man. He en-couraged the slave trading and organized the trans-atlantic trade. His is the responsibility for the disruptionof settled agricultural life over vast areas of the AfricanContinent, which has been a factor in retarding the socialdevelopment ofAfrican society for centuries, and also forthe untold misery brought to millions ofblack people soldinto slavery. The slave trade constitutes the historical link


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l6 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONbetween the Gold Coast and the West Indies. The de-spoliation of the former contributed to the economicdevelopment of the latter. The labour of the Negroesprovided much of the primitive accumulation of capitalthat went into the financing of the English IndustrialRevolution. Thanks to the industrial wealth and mari-time prosperity derived from the profits of the Africanslave trade and West Indian slavery, Britain got a leadon her continental rivals that she would not otherwisehave gained. Referring to this vital contribution to theearly commercial and financial foundation of Britain,Mr Winston Churchill, addressing a banquet of WestIndian sugar planters in London on July 20, 1939, re"minded them that'the West Indies two hundred years ago bulked verylargely in the minds of all people who were makingBritain and making the British Empire. Our possession ofthe West Indies, like that of India the colonial planta-tions and development, as they were then called gave usthe strength, the support, but especially the capital, thewealth, at a time when no other European nation pos-sessed such a reserve, which enabled us to come throughthe great struggle of the Napoleonic Wars, the keencompetition of the commerce of the eighteenth and nine-teenth centuries, and enabled her not only to acquire thisworld-wide appendage of possessions which we have, butalso to lay the foundation of that commercial and finan-cial leadership which, when the world was young, wheneverything outside Europe was undeveloped, enabled usto make our great position in the world.'

State and Church, capitalists and bankers, shipownersand merchants, colonial planters, and even statesmen,benefited directly from slavery and the slave trade. Itwas the slave trade and sugar which made Bristol thesecond city of England for the first three-quarters of theeighteenth century. 'There is not', wrote a local annalist,'a brick in the city but what is cemented with the blood


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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS IJofa slave. Sumptuous mansions, luxurious living, liveriedmenials, were the produce of the wealth made from thesufferings and groans of the slaves bought and sold bythe Bristol merchants!' 1 This is equally true of London,Liverpool and Glasgow.

Missionary work among the blacks was also subsidizedout of slavery. For example:cThe Society for the PropagationoftheGospelas trusteesfor the sugar estates in Barbados which formed part ofthe

endowmentofCodringtonGollegeinthatisland,wereslaveowners and did not emancipate their slaves until i834-52'Christopher Codrington was Governor of Barbados

during the seventeenth century and his plantations inBarbados and Bermuda were worth 100,000 in modernmoney. He founded a college there which still bears hisname, and on his death left 10,000, most of it for alibrary, and his valuable collection of books worth6,000 to All Souls College, Oxford, where they formedthe nucleus of the famous Codrington College/3

THE IMPERIALIST PERIODAs long as Britain enjoyed a virtual commercial

monopoly and was able to sell her goods in all the world'smarkets and obtain raw materials and cheap food fromabroad at most favourable terms, her political leadersremained attached to the Manchester School of FreeTrade, and stubbornly resisted any suggestion to annexeven the Gold Coast settlements which British merchantshad taken over from the slave dealers after the abolitionof the trade in 1807. So strong was the sentiment againstcolonial expansion that even as late as 1865 a committeeof the House of Commons recommended the LiberalGovernment of Lord John Russell to abandon all Britishholdings on the West African coast, except Sierra Leone,

1 Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams, University of North'Carolina Press, p. 61.2 Colour Prejudice by Sir Alan Burns, Allen & Unwin, p, 22.8 Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams, p. 90.


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l8 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONand to abstainfrom further annexations in theregion. EvenDisraeli, who later became the arch imperialist, describedcolonies at the time as

c

a millstone around our necks'.During the period when British industrialists andstatesmen were still disinterested in the acquisition ofcolonies in Africa, explorers like David Livingstone,Richard Burton and J. H, Speke, Denham, Clappertonand Macgregor Laird, were active in penetrating intothe interior. By the latter part of the nineteenth century,when British foreign policy changed and the great Euro-pean powers began the scramble for colonies, the interiorof Africa was not entirely unknown. This change fromanti-colonialism to aggressive imperialism was broughtabout by economic needs arising from the keen commer-cial rivalry between the manufacturing nations which mbegan in the middle of the nineteenth century. By then,not only Britain but other European countries, especiallyGermany and France, were becoming more and moreindustrialized and their capitalists needed overseas mar-kets for the disposal of their surplus consumer goods andsecurement of certain foodstuffs and raw materials, whilebankers and financiers were seeking fields for the invest-ment of surplus capital.In order to regulate the partition of Africa and avoidarmed conflict between the white nations interested inseeking ca place in the African sun', Bismarck, then theleading European statesman, convened a conference inBerlin in 1885. The international situation at that timefavoured such a conference. Since the end of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1, Berlin had become the centreof European diplomacy. But this alone would not haveenabled Bismarck to take the initiative of convening theconference unless he had the diplomatic support ofEngland. Fortunately, Anglo-German relations werepassing through a honeymoon period during the yearswhich marked the fall ofJules Ferry in France and thereturn of the revanche policy under Clemenceau on the


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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS 19one hand, and the downfall ofGladstone in England andthe accession of the more congenial Conservative, theMarquis of Salisbury, on the other.Taking advantage of these changes in the politicalclimate in Paris and London, the German Chancellorsent his son, Herbert Bismarck, to England early in 1885to explain Germany's colonial aims, which found sym-pathetic support among the Tories. Even Gladstone,hearing of young Bismarck5s mission, declared that 'ifGermany is to become a colonizing power, all I can sayis God speed her: she becomes an ally and partner in theexecution of a great purpose of providence for theadvancement of mankind*. 1The diplomatic stage having been well set for 'the rapeof Africa5 , the Berlin Conference recognized the right ofKing Leopold of the Belgians over the Congo, andapproved the various claims of Britain, France andGermany in East, West and South Africa. To consolidatetheir, positions, they adopted a policy ofneo-mercantilismoperated through chartered companies. These monopolyconcerns the British and German East African Com-panies, the Niger Company, the South African Company,etc. were the trading organizations which opened upthe interior of Africa and laid the bases ofgovernment inthose territories which were later taken over officially bythe governments and declared to be colonies andprotectorates.Through this method of advancing their trade and

commerce, Germany, although a late-comer, acquiredTanganyika in East Africa, Togoland and Cameroons onthe west coast, and South-west Africa,2 a total of 925,000

1 Speech in the House of Commons, March 12, 1885, quoted inAfrica and World Peace by G. Padmore, pp. 167-8.2 These territories were annexed after the First World War anddivided among the victorious Allied Powers as League of NationsMandates. Britain and France shared Togo and the Cameroons.Britain also got Tanganyika, and South Africa was handed South-west Africa.


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2O THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONsquare miles. Britain, who had acquired well-recognizedinterests along the west coast, legacies ofthe slave period,secured Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast and Nigeria;on the east she secured part of Somaliland, Kenya andUganda. In Central Africa she secured Nyasaland,Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Cape Province andNatal in South Africa, later obtaining protectorate rightsin Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland. The BritishEmpire in Africa covered an area of 2,300,000 squaremiles.France took the lion's share of 3,300,000 square miles.Even before the big share-out she was already in NorthAfrica with Algeria in 1830 and Tunis in 188 1, to whichMorocco was added in the early part of the present cen-tury. On the west coast, where she held a slave port inSenegal, France secured all the inland territories ofwestand equatorial Africa forming the hinterland of theBritish coastal settlements.To consolidate her power in the Gold Coast, Britainhad to fight a series of wars against the Ashantis.Although the coastal area was created a Crown Colonyin 1874, it was not until 1901 that Ashanti and theNorthern Territories were brought under effective Britishcontrol and proclaimed protectorates.In 1896, British troops under Sir Francis Scott invadedKumasi, arrested the Asantehene, King Prempeh I, andimposed an English Resident on the capital. The King,the Queen Mother and other members of the royalfamily were later deported to the Seychelles islands.Fighting was renewed in 1900 on the occasion of the statevisit to Kumasi of the then Governor, Sir FrederickHodgson. The Ashantis resented the Governor's demandto surrender the Golden Stool, their most sacred symbol,containing the 'souP of their nation for him to situpon. The British garrison at Kumasi was besiegedfor several months and had to be relieved by anexpeditionary force dispatched from the coast under


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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS 21Colonel afterwards General SirJohn Willcocks. After theuprising was subdued, Ashanti was annexed and placedunder the direct administration of the Governor of theGold Coast.GOLD COAST TRIBESThe Ashantis are a branch of the Akans, the principal

tribe inhabiting the territories comprising the Gold Coast.These Akans are supposed to have formed part of theGhana Empire before migrating into the Gold Coastfrom the north-west in several waves which occurredbetween the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Consti-tuting about one-sixth of the population, the Ashantiswere the first among the Gold Coast tribes to lay thefoundation of integrated nationhood in the form of amilitary confederacy. There is no doubt that had theynot come into conflict with the superior military powerof the British, they would in due course have establishedtheir supremacy over the entire coastal regions. Indeed,it was the British who became the paramount power, firstover the coast and later over the hinterland. To consoli-date their power, the British abolished the confederacyby encouraging the various chiefs to assert their indepen-dence of the King of Ashanti.

After breaking up the unity of the Ashanti nation, theBritish permitted the exiled King to return in 1924 asParamount Chief of Kumasi; but his subjects still recog-nized him as their Asantehene. After the King's death in1931, his nephew, Otumfuo Sir Agyeman Prempeh II,was installed as Omanhene of Kumasi, and in 1935 theConfederacy was restored as the Asanteman Councilunder the supervision of the British Chief Commissionerwith the Kumasihene officially recognized as Asantehene.The Ashantis are only one branch oftheAkan-speakingpeople. South of the territory they now occupy live theAkwapims, Guans, Fantis and other kindred tribes.The Guans were the first to enter the Gold Coast from


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28 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONthe north. They came down the Volta valley and prob-ably as early as 1200 were in possession of the crescent ofland stretching from Bole through Salaga, Kroachi,Anum and Accra, as far west as Winneba.The second group ofinvaders were the ancestors of theFantis, who probably came down the Ofin and Pica,reaching the coast about 1300 and spreading eastwardthrough Gape Coast until they came in contact with theGuans. Then came the ancestors of the Ashantis, movingdown between the earlier settlers, filling up Ashanti andAkim. Their spearhead, the Akwamus, probably came incontact with the coast people about 1600.Behind the Ashantis came the non-Akan, Moshi-Dagomba-speaking groups who, partly by conquest andpartly by peaceful penetration, obtained supremacy overthe indigenous inhabitants of the Northern Territories.The newcomers established the Mamprusi and Dagombakingdoms under the rule of sons and other relatives oftheir leaders. These people once belonged to the SudanicMelle Empire, but after settling in their new home, theruling families shared political power with a class of in-digenous priests called Tandanas. As representatives ofthe 'Earth God', the Tandanas are still regarded as theofficial custodians of tribal lands in many parts of theNorthern Territories, but the actual administration andright of 'disposal' is being transferred to the newly formedlocal councils.Very little is known of the aboriginal inhabitantswhom the Akans displaced along the coastal sections.The symbol of chieftain authority among the Akans isthe Stool, which they consider sacred. All lands otherthan family holdings derive from the Stool and belong

to the Stool. The chiefs who are the occupants of theStool have no personal rights as chiefs in land or in any-thing apart from the Stool. According to tradition andcustomary law, succession to the Stool is through thefemale line. When a Paramount Chiefor Omanhene dies


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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS 23or is destooled, the successor is elected from among thesons of the chief's sisters, or occasionally from among thesons of a sister of some previous Omanhene, but neverfrom among the chief's sons. The Paramount Chief isconsidered a constitutional ruler and his powers arestrictly regulated by native law and custom* Thoughinvested with executive and judicial authority, the chiefmust always seek the advice of his Council of Elders andCounsellors to whom he owes his election, and who candestool him for breaches of customary law.His every act is closely watched. There are not onlythe Council ofElders and sub-chiefs to be reckoned with,but the Omanhene must have the support of the power-ful companies of so-called 'young men', known as Asafowarriors, as well as the women, headed by the QueenMother, always the power behind the StooL It is she whonominates the candidates to be elected chiefin conformitywith the matrilineal line of succession.The Queen Mother, however; is not necessarily the

real mother of the chief. She may be his sister or otherfemale member of the royal family. She, too, is selectedfor her high office and invested with her own rights anddignities. Like the Paramount Chief, the Queen Motherenjoys the regal title of 'Nana'.* Not only women of the royal families, but all GoldCoast women generally enjoy absolute equality withmen. They play an important part in the economic lifeof the country, and often exercise a decisive role intribal affairs.

Among the non-Akan tribes inhabiting the easterncoastal province of the Colony area are the Gas. Accord-ing to tradition, they originally formed part of theYoruba kingdom in Nigeria and migrated into the GoldCoast from the east and settled on the Accra plainsaround the beginning of the sixteenth century.

Their social and political institutions differ from thoseof the Akans, but their religious beliefs and practices


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24 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONseem to have undergone certain changes through culturalcontact with the Guans and other tribes with whom theycame into early association while consolidating theirhegemony over the territory lying between the Akwapimhills and the sea. Originally, the Gas seem to have livedunder Elders, but in times ofwar and other tribal crises,fetish priests known as Mantses established a theocracyto the extent that the Elders themselves became membersof the priesthood in order to safeguard their secularauthority from the fetish men.Unlike the Akans, the Gas never developed a central-ized political state. They always lived in small communi-ties called Towns, which were subdivided into Quartersunder headmen, also fetish priests. However, duringtribal wars, the Towns formed temporary alliances formutual defence against invaders, but more often thannot they fought one another for supremacy. Althoughthe early British administrations in the Gold Coast recog-nized the Ga Mantse as the Paramount Chief of Accra,the legacy of disunity still exists among the Ga chiefs;each is monarch of all he surveys within his little Town,of which there are about seven in Accra!Another non-Akan tribe which also migrated from

Nigeria about the seventeenth century are the Ewes.Their political form of government consists in Divisionsand sub-Divisions under secular rulers called Fias. Thesechiefs, unlike those among the Gas, always enjoyed tradi-tional sanction and are selected by the Councils ofElders from among certain 'Stool families' by patrilinealdescent. Each Fia administers his Division with the aid ofa Council ofElders, among whom the Stool Father occu-pies a status similar to that of the Queen Mother amongthe Akans. The Elders represent the Asafo or warriorbands and exercise considerable influence over the Fias.This was especially the case in times of crises, when theCouncils of the various Divisions would form alliances.In this respect, the Ewe political system more closely


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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS 25corresponds to that of the Gas than to the highlycentralized states among the Akans.

All these tribes Fantis, Ashantis, Gas, Ewes andothers numbered 4,333,000 in 1951 and occupy anarea of 91,843 square miles. Thanks to the ConventionPeople's Party policy of 'one country, one people, onedestiny3 , they are becoming more and more integratedinto a common Gold Coast citizenship.


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IIEARLY DEVELOPMENT

OF GOLD COAST NATIONALISM

GOLD COAST NATIONALISM hasa long history.

Its antecedents go back to the latter part of theseventeenth century, when the Akan tribes in-

habiting the river valleys ofAshanti established a militaryconfederacy under their famous Kumasi King, Osei Tutu.According to Ashanti legend, a celebrated fetish priestnamed Komfu Anotchi (or Anokye) informed the King

that'he was commissioned by Onyame, the God of the

Sky, to make Ashanti a great and powerful nation. In thepresence ofthe King and a great multitude he drew downfrom heaven a black cloud from which issued the rumb-lings of thunder and a wooden Stool. The Stool sankslowly through the air till it rested upon the King's kneeswithout touching the earth. Except for the gold whichpartially covered it, the Stool was such as Africans com-monly use. Anotchi proclaimed that it contained the Sun-Sum (the soul) of the Ashanti people, that with it wasbound up their honour, their welfare, and that if ever itwere captured or destroyed the nation would perish.Therefore, the Stool was cherished as the most sacredpossession of the tribe. It was never allowed to touch theground. On the rare occasions when it was brought out, itwas placed on an elephant skin spread upon the groundand was covered with a cloth of a special kind. Not eventhe King ever sat upon it. Whenever on great occasionsits power was evoked, the King would pretend three

26


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EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM 27times to sit upon it and would seat himselfupon his ownstool and rest his arm upon the Golden Stool. Once a yearit was carried in solemn procession, under its own um-brella and accompanied by its own attendants who inpomp and numbers exceeded the attendants of the Kingwho walked behind it.When, sometime after the appearance of the Stool,the King ^flEDenkyira, who claimed the overlordship of

Ashanti/sent |p collect the customary tribute, consistingof a brdtas pafi filled with gold dust, together with thefavourite wife! and favourite son ofevery chief, the Ashantipeople emboldened by possession of the Golden Stool,resisted his demands. In the battle which followed, theKing of Denkyira and his Queen were captured andbeheaded and the golden fetters they had worn weretaken to embellish the Golden Stool. Later on, the chiefof a neighbouring territory arrogantly made himself areplica ofthe sacred emblem. The King ofAshanti led anarmy against him, cut off his head, and melted the goldthat adorned the rival stool. The gold was cast into twomasks representing the face ofthe impious chiefand thesewere hung as trophies upon the Golden Stool.As time went on the power of the King of Ashantiincreased enormously and every victorious advanceadded to the prestige of the Golden Stool. The extensionof their domains brought the Ashantis in the early yearsof the last century to the sea coast, where English fortshad been built. 51

By this time their military organization had becomehighly developed. The structure of the army corre-sponded to the divisions of the Akan State. The chiefswere commanders and their titles designated their mili-tary rank. For example, the commander ofthe right wingof the army was known as Nifahene^ he of the left wingthe Eenkumhene; the advanced guard the Adontenhene, thebodyguard the Gqyasahene and the rearguard the Kyidom-hene. The Commander-in-Ghief was the King or Asante-hene, and his Council ofWar consisted of the Amanhene or

1 The Golden Stool by E. W. Smith, S.P.G., pp. 1-2-3.


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28 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONParamount Chiefs of each state comprising the militaryconfederacy.

Before they came into serious collision with the Britishduring their seaward advance, the Ashantis fought severalwars against the Fantis and other tribes which settledalong the coastal regions. The Fantis were the firstAfricans with whom the Europeans had established con-tact during the early slave period, and since the Europeansettlements had been acquired by mutual agreement, theFantis, unlike the Ashantis, who were finally defeated bythe British and their country annexed as a protectoratein 1901, have never considered themselves a conqueredpeople but Triends and allies' of the British.

After the abolition ofthe slave trade in 1807 the impor-tance of the forts built by the slave dealers declined andthe African Company of Merchants, which had adminis-tered the forts since 1750, was gradually dissolved.Following the withdrawal of the Company in 1821, itspossessions and interests, originally acquired from thechiefs, were placed under the administration of theGovernor of the West African Settlements, Sir CharlesMcCarthy, the local representative of the ImperialGovernment. His headquarters were in the neighbouringcolony of Sierra Leone. Three years after the ImperialGovernment had assumed responsibility for the GoldCoast forts, Sir Charles McCarthy had to come to theaid of the Fanti tribes, who were being attacked by theAshantis. The defence forces, consisting mainly of Fantilevies, were defeated, and the Governor was killed atInsamankow on January i, 1824. However, the warended in a victory for the British forces at Dodowa in1826, and peace was formally concluded in 1831 by atreaty between the British and their Fanti allies on theone hand and the Ashantis on the other.

After this encounter, the Imperial Government, dis*.gusted at the expenditure ofmen and treasure in defend-ing forts which were of no particular value to them since


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EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM 2Qthe cessation of the slave trade, decided to retire from theGold Coast and leave the Fantis to their fate. But theBritish traders on the coast protested and appealed to thehome Government to transfer the forts to a committee ofLondon merchants interested in promoting legitimatetrade among the Africans. The committee appointed aprofessional soldier and able administrator, CaptainGeorge Maclean, to be their local representative.Governor Maclean soon became very popular among thechiefs, and it was he who laid the foundation for theextension of British influence over a wide area of thecoastal regions outside the jurisdiction of the early settle-ments. A man of great moral courage and high purpose,he succeeded in getting the chiefs to give up many bar-barous customs, such as human sacrifice, and to recognizethe application of British law to certain serious crimes,such as murder, robbery, etc. Up to Maclean's time,there had been no attempt to turn the Gold Coast intoa British colony by annexation. A Select Committee ofthe House of Commons had in 1842 defined the relation-ship between the chiefs and the British Government asfollows:

'Their relation to the English Crown should be, notthe allegiance of subjects to which we have no right topretend, and which it would entail an inconvenientresponsibility to possess, but the deference of weakerpowers to a stronger and more enlightened neighbourwhose protection and counsel they seek, and to whomthey are bound by certain definite obligations. 5

In the following year things began to change for theworse. The British naval authorities engaged in patrollingthe Gulf of Guinea against illegal slave trading accusedMaclean ofconniving with the captains ofcertain vessels.The Governor was cleared but demoted and made aJudicial Assessor. This crisis led the Imperial Govern-ment to resume direct control over the British forts oncemore. To facilitate the new arrangement, the British


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go THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONimperial representative, Commander H. W. Hill, R.N.,signed new treaties (popularly known as the Bond of1844) with several Fanti chiefs, defining the relationshipof the Africans with the British in terms of 'partnership'.The Bond gave dejure recognition to the status quo andmarked the beginning of a new chapter in Anglo-GoldCoast relations. Similar treaties of 'friendship and pro-tection' were made with other non-Fanti chiefs along theeastern littoral, from Accra to Keta. Hitherto thecastles and trading forts built by the various Europeannations and used as depots for slaves and merchandisewere intermixed, no limits having been set to theirindividual influence. The first thing which the Britishdid was to try and straighten out the administrativeconfusion, particularly as the collection of customswas rendered almost impossible by a state of affairswhere, for example, within a few miles of a fort whereone foreign power imposed duty, a rival nation mighthold a fort where goods entered free.These administrative reforms were carried out by thevery first Legislative Council, established in 1850, follow-ing the separation of the Gold Coast from Sierra Leone,It was about that time that the British Governmentacquired possession of the Danish forts in Accra andspheres ofinfluence along the eastern coast ofthe country.But within fifteen years the British halted their policy ofexpanding their sphere of influence. This was followedby a period of indecision which reflected the anti-colonialist philosophy then prevailing among the Britishcapitalist class, especially the manufacturers and indus-trialists and their Liberal supporters. In and out ofParliament men like Bright, Cobden and other FreeTraders were denouncing colonial expansion. Why beburdened with bits and pieces of the Dark Continent aslong as the natives could be persuaded to exchange theirraw materials for Lancashire textiles and Birminghamproducts? 'Get out of Africa', cried the Free Traders,


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EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM 3!leave the natives to the missionaries. 5 In 1865, the LiberalGovernment headed by LordJohn Russell recommendedthe termination of British rule in the Gold Coast.Prior to their departure the authorities made arrange-ments to hand over certain forts to the Dutch, but theFanti chiefs refused these arrangements. Alarmed at theaction of the British 'friends and allies 5 who had guaran-teed their protection against the Ashantis and Europeanpowers, the Fanti chiefs who had signed the Bond of 1844convened a conference in 1868 at which they attemptedto form a confederacy for mutual protection againsttheir common enemy, the Ashantis. Nothing concretematerialized, and threeyears latera second conferencewascalled at Mankesim. This gave birth to the famous FantiConfederation the first nationalist movement amongthe chiefs and people of the Colony. But it came too late,for between the first and second conferences Britishforeign policy had undergone a decisive change.The Imperial Government had decided not only toremain but to annex the Gold Coast. What was respon-sible for this sudden change from anti-colonialism toaggressive imperial expansion? In a word: competitivecapitalism.Tor twenty years Britain had enjoyed a period ofhigh

prosperity. Trade had expanded beyond all dreams,British railways and steamships were knitting togetherthe four corners of the earth. Britain had become theworld's forge, the world's workshop, the world's ship-builder, the world's carrier, the world's banker, and theworld's entrepdt. Prices were rising but wages were risingeven more. Capital was accumulating. Prosperity at homeand commerce abroad made the possession of coloniesseem unimportant and irrelevant. The whole of theworld was Britain's economic domain. . . . After 1873 theexports of British capital showed a smaller increase thanbefore there was a piling up of surplus capital seekingnew outlets, and powerful trading companies were


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32 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONformed to undertake both political control and economicexploitation in the colonies. It was surely not surprisingthat all these circumstances should combine in givingbirth to a new imperialism, and in leading the way to thescramble for Africa.' 1The flag thus came to follow trade. And determined not

to be left behind in the scramble, the British Govern-ment, notwithstanding the Bond of 1844, unilaterallydeclared the Gold Coast a Crown Colony in 1874. Inthese circumstances the Fanti Confederation was con-sidered a menace standing in the way of the newimperialism and had to be strangled at birth.THE FANTI CONFEDERATION OF 1871The genius behind the Confederation, which for a

short time brought together many rival and hostile Fantistates, was the famous African King Ghartey IV ofWinneba, a man inspired with the zeal of a reformer.The Confederation had agreed upon an elaborate consti-tution uniting the coastal states into a powerful leaguefor mutual defence. All the leaders, among them KodwoKwegyir, the Omankyiame of Anambu State Counciland father of the famous African philosopher Dr J. E.Kwegyir Aggrey, aspired to integrated nationhood.

It is remarkable that about the same time theJapanese,another coloured race emerging from feudalism, werealso reforming themselves. In the Gold Coast, the kingsand tribal chiefs elected Ghartey IV a sort of 'PresidentKing5 of the Fanti Confederation and declared that:

cHe should govern the country with the aid of a Minis-try of five officials, representing the chiefs and educatednatives. ... To assist the King and Council, a representa-tive Legislative Assembly was to be established, com-posed oftwo representatives from each district, appointedby the King, one being an educated native and the othera chief. This Assembly would be responsible to the King1 Empire and After by Rita Hinden, Essential Books Ltd., pp. 65-7.


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EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM 33and the chiefs of the Confederation, who should hold anannual meeting. At this meeting the King-Presidentwould sanction all laws passed by the RepresentativeAssembly, so far as they are compatible with the interestsof the country. 5The Fanti constitution elaborated in great detail the

various functions of government legislative, executiveand judicial. A detailed programme of economic andsocial reconstruction was provided for. Here are a fewof the main points:

Sections. To make good and substantial roads through-out the interior districts included in the Confederation.Section 4. To erect schoolhouses and establish schools

for the education of all children within the Confedera-tion, and to obtain the services of efficient schoolmasters.

Section 5. To promote agricultural and industrial pur-suits and to endeavour to introduce such new plants asmay hereafter become sources of profitable commerce tothe country.

Section 6. To develop and facilitate the working of themineral and other resources of the country.Article 26. That main roads be made, connectingvarious

provinces or districts with one another and with the seacoast, etc.

Article 57. That in each province or district provincialcourts be established, to be presided over by the provin-cial assessors.

Citizens were also to have the right of appeal to theKing-President and his Privy or Executive Council, andeventually to British courts, a provision stipulated in theAnglo-Fanti Bond of 1844. To carry out the reforms theConstitution gave the Representative Assembly theright to impose and collect taxes in territories under thejurisdiction of the Confederation.These aspirations of Gold Coast Africans to constructan independent, modern civilized state came just at the


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34 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONtime when the imperialist powers were conspiring to carveup Africa and consolidate spheres of influence. Accord-ingly, the British Lieutenant-Governor at Cape Coast,Mr Charles Spencer Salmon, immediately set about todestroy the Confederation. He ordered the arrest on thecharge of conspiracy of four of the educated leaders ofthe Confederacy Council James Hutton Brew,James F.Amissah, George Kuntu Blankson, and the Rev JosephHayford, father ofJ. Casely Hayford, the founder of theWest African National Congress.'This dangerous conspiracy must now be destroyed forgood, or the country will become altogether unmanage-able 3 , wrote the Governor -in a dispatch to the SecretaryofState for the Colonies. Although the arrested men weresubsequently released on the orders of the home Govern-ment, the Confederation was declared illegal. The Britishauthorities in the Gold Coast threatened to 'prosecuteany person or persons committing any overt acts on thepart of the Confederation, especially the levying of taxes,assumption ofjudicial power, and molestation ofpeacefulinhabitants following their lawful calling5 .Ever since the arrest of the Confederation leaders thevery first Gold Coast patriots to suffer in the cause offreedom the guiding policy of all British administratorsin the Gold Coast has been to prevent the Fanti statesfrom cementing political unity between themselves andthe Ashantis. Progressive and far-sighted Fanti leadersand patriots, however, never gave up the hope ofachieving unity by peaceful means with the Ashantis andother ethnic groups inhabiting the Gold Coast.

cThe Ashanti and the people of the Gold Coast arecousins,' [declared The Gold Coast Leader as far back as1926] 'and they are destined in the order of Providenceto become welded together in one national unity andentity. It ought to be a proud thing for Great Britain tohelp to rear a nation in the Gold Coast an Ashantiwhich will form a nucleus of a yet greater nation to be,


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EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM 35namely, that of British West Africa, with a parliament ofits own, in the way of self-government at some distantdate up to Dominion status.31When the Gold Coast Africans demand self-govern-

ment today they are, in consequence, merely assertingthe birthright which they never really surrendered to theBritish who, disregarding their treaty obligations underthe Bond of 1844, gradually usurped full sovereigntyover the country.

1 Gold Coast Leader, November 7, 1926, p. 6.


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IllABORIGINES' SOCIETY

AND NATIONAL CONGRESS

TWENTY-SIXYEARS AFTER the abortive Manke-

sim Conference, certain educated Africans tried torevive the spirit of the Confederation at a timewhen the lands and other fundamental rights of the

aborigines were being threatened by the local Britishrulers. But the dangers facing the chiefs and people in1896 called for new forms of organization and tactics.For many political and other changes had taken placeduring the quarter ofa century dividing the demise oftheFanti Confederation and the birth of the Aborigines 5Rights Protection Society.Although an African, the merchantJohn Sarbah, had

been appointed to the Legislative Council in 1888 torepresent "native interests 5 , the chiefs and people stilllacked an effective organization through which theycould present their views on public policy to the localgovernment and the Colonial Office. To fill this need, thechiefs and their educated subjects, many of whom wereclosely related to the traditional "stools 5 or chieftainships,organized the Society at Cape Coast in 1897.Unlike the Fanti Confederation, which had been con-ceived chiefly as a military alliance against the Ashantison the one hand and a union of coastal states for mutualeconomic and social development independent of Dutchcontrol on the other, the Aborigines5 Rights ProtectionSociety was a purely ad hoc body of chiefs and educated

36


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ABORIGINES 5 SOCIETY AND CONGRESS 37Africans whose purpose was to serve as a link between thetraditional rulers and British Government. It was neverconceived as an organization to advocate complete sever-ance from the British imperial connection, but as itsconstitution states:

(a) To protect the rights of the aborigines of the GoldCoast at all times by constitutional means and methods.(b) To promote and effect unity of purpose and ofaction among all aborigines of the Gold Coast.(c) To inculcate upon the members the importance ofcontinued loyalty to the British Crown, and to educatethem to a proper and correct understanding of the rela-

tions which have existed for above four hundred yearsbetween Great Britain and this country.(d) To foster in the rising generation a knowledge of

their historical past, and to encourage the study of thelaws, customs and institutions oftheir country, to promotea sound national educational policy with particular atten-tion to agriculture, scientific and industrial training, andgenerally to facilitate the spread of industry and thrift inthe whole country.

(e) To be the medium of communication and rightunderstanding between the Government and the people.

(/) Generally to promote the interests and advance-ment of the aborigines of the Gold Coast in any lawfulmanner whatsoever.Conceived in the spirit ofco-operation with the British

authorities in securing reforms by Constitutional meansand methods5,it has remained up to this day fundamen-tally traditionalist and conservative. Yet its founderswere some of the most outstanding men the Gold Coasthas yet produced, numbering among themJohn Mensah

Sarbah, C.M.G., son of the first African to serve as anominated member ofthe Legislative Council, a barristerand authority on Fanti laws and customs, withJohn PeterBrown, Jacob Wilson Sey, and J. W. de Graft Johnson.


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38 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONThe immediate purpose of the formation ofthe Societywas to oppose certain legislation proposed by the then

Governor, Sir William Maxwell, which sought to convertStool lands vested in the chiefs-in-council as trustees ofthe tribes into Grown lands under the sole 'protection' ofthe Governor. If passed into law, the proposal wouldhave struck at the very foundations of the economic andsocio-religious structure ofAkan society and would haveled sooner or later to the political disintegration of theFanti states. No legislation introduced by the Britishauthorities so alarmed the chiefs as this proposal, and asa result they immediately rallied behind the educatedmen who founded the Society and gave them full moraland financial support in opposing the obnoxious MaxwellLand Bills.A delegation comprising the President of the Society,Mr Jacob W. Sey, and two other members of the Execu-tive, Mr George Hughes and Mr T. F* Jones, was dis-patched to London to put the grievances of the chiefsbefore the Imperial Government. The mission was re-ceived by the Secretary of State for Colonies, Mr JosephChamberlain, who instructed the Governor to withdrawthe proposed measures. Chamberlain undoubtedly hadmore sense than Maxwell. Imperialist that he was, herealized that the climate in West Africa, then known asthe cwhite man's grave 5 , was not conducive to permanentwhite colonization, as in Cape Colony and the highlandsof Kenya. Furthermore, Britain had enough trouble onher hands at that time with the Boers in South Africa,and Chamberlain himselfwas being attacked for his sup-port of Cecil Rhodes in connection with the Jamesonraid and did not want to get involved in trouble in WestAfrica. The mosquitoes saved the West Africans, not theeloquence of the intellectuals!This early victory ofthe Society guaranteed its organi-zational success. Since it had the backing of all theParamount Chiefs, who were still recognized by the


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ABORIGINES 3 SOCIETY AND CONGRESS 39British Government in the Gold Coast as sovereign rulersof their respective states (the system of Indirect Rule orNative Authority had not yet become the fashion) , theGovernor was forced to consult the executive committeeof the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society on all mat-ters appertaining to native affairs. The prestige of theSociety never stood higher. It enjoyed official status asthe 'Parliament of the Africans', de facto if not de jure.When a later Governor, J. J. Thornton, tried to introducea Forest Bill, the Africans suspected another attempt toalienate Stool lands. The Society, ever vigilant, againrallied the chiefs against the proposed legislation anddispatched another delegation to London in 1912. MrLewis Harcourt, then Secretary of State for Colonies,after hearing the views of the delegation, appointed SirH. Conway Belfield to investigate and report upon theland problems of the Gold Coast.While the Commissioner's report did not agree withthe assertion of the Society's spokesman that 'this ForestBill, if it becomes law, would have the effect of breakingup the native institutions absolutely', Harcourt, like hispredecessor Chamberlain, advised caution, and the pro-posed Bill was withdrawn. Apprehensive at the tremen-dous political influence which the educated Africansespecially the lawyer class were wielding upon the chiefsthrough their control of the Society, Sir Gordon Guggis-berg, who became Governor in 1919, set about to destroyits influence in the same way as Governor CharlesSpencer Salmon had destroyed the Fanti Confederation.As a politician Guggisberg was cleverer than Salmon.He did not make the mistake of turning the intellectualsinto martyrs by arresting the Society's leaders on sometrumped-up charge of sedition, but went about under-mining their influence in a more subtle way. He led themto believe that the Government would continue to respecttheir views as previous Governors had done, while plan-ning to alienate the chiefs from the Society. Sir Gordon


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40 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONheld office from 1919 to 1927, and during the latter partofhis administration a head-on conflict occurred betweena section of the chiefs and the Gape Coast educatedAfrican leaders of the Aborigines' Rights ProtectionSociety, who, until 1926, were officially recognized bythe Governor as the advisers of the natural rulers. SirGordon's stratagem of grouping the Fanti and othernative states into administrative units basedupon Eastern,Central and Western Provincial Councils drove a wedgebetween the chiefs and the lawyer class associated withthe Aborigines5 Rights Protection Society, as it wasintended to do.

Sir Gordon Guggisberg had previously served as a civilservant in Nigeria and had become enamoured of thesystem of Indirect Rule first started in that dependencyby Lord Lugard. In carrying out his manoeuvre to intro-duce the Native Administration system into the GoldCoast, he found an able lieutenant in Nana Sir OforiAtta I, the ambitious Paramount ChiefofAkimAbuakwa,the biggest of the Akim states. The various provincialcouncils were later amalgamated to form the Joint Pro-vincial Council of the Paramount Chiefs of the Colonyarea. As soon as the Joint Provincial Council came intobeing the Governor withdrew recognition from theAbori-gines' Rights Protection Society and transferred it to theCouncil dominated by Sir Ofori Atta. Deserted by thechiefs, the authority and prestige ofthe Society dwindled.Without the financial support of the chiefs, the lawyersand other middle-class leaders of the Society, culturallyalienated from the common people, were left with therump of a once powerful and influential organization.For according to Sir H, C. Belfield, 'funds were sub-scribed by chiefs alone; the lawyers, however, contributetheir service gratis 5 .As the chiefs now took advice from the British politicalofficers the Chief Commissioner for the Colony and hisdistrict assistants some of the intellectuals themselves


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ABORIGINES' SOCIETY AND CONGRESS 41began to desert the Aborigines 5 Society and make theirpeace with the British, whom they had formerly opposedon matters affecting native interests. Others withdrewtheir opposition to the constitutional reforms introducedunder the Guggisberg Constitution of 1925 and scrambledfor seats in the Legislative Council. As for the chiefs, theybecame real puppets of the British officials; for the Gov-ernor was given authority under the Native Administra-tion Ordinance to bestow legislative, executive andjudicial powers upon them and to withdraw these powersif the chiefs became persona non grata with the DistrictCommissioners. The chiefs were delighted with their newstatus. They had never enjoyed such autocratic powersbefore the coming of the white man. On the other hand,Guggisberg's action was strongly criticized by the edu-cated urbanized Africans, who saw in the Governor'spolicy an attempt to flout traditional native laws andcustoms. The intellectuals became more royalist than thekings! The chiefs rallied round the new fleshpot andsupported the British officials who flatteringly started toaddress them as their 'good friends 5 .

Realizing the mischief which the Governor and SirOfori Atta had done, the intransigent leaders of theAborigines5 Rights Protection Society refused to compro-mise. They continued to make appeals to the chiefs notto betray the organization which had so far safeguardedthe Africans5 land rights.

cWe cannot too often remind our people that the GoldCoast Aborigines5 Rights Protection Society took up thework just where the Fanti Confederation left it; and,whereas in the Confederation days the Assembly atMankesim was the national assembly of the people, so isthe assembly today of the Aborigines5 Society at CapeCoast the national assembly of the people, 5 [wrote TheGold Coast Leader ofJuly 10, 1926].

But it was of no avail. The plums of office under thenew political set-up were too attractive; the exercise of


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42 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONunlimited power was too intoxicating for the illiteratechiefs to pay heed to the appeals of their educated sub-jects. Some of them, not satisfied with the autocraticpowers they exercised under the Native Authority Ordi-nance, broke all tradition and had themselves elected tothe Legislative Council. This was 'revolutionary action5on their part, for under Akan laws and customs theAfrican rulers are prohibited from legislating for thepeople behind their backs and without consulting theCouncil of Elders and other state officers. The chiefs arenot even allowed to speak officially except throughspecial interpreters known as linguists. Nevertheless,they discarded all this when they started scrambling forseats in the white man's legislature. In this respect thechiefs proved themselves to be less traditionalist thanmany of the educated leaders of the Society, who eventoday violently oppose many necessary social and localgovernment reforms recommended by the predominantlyAfrican Coussey Constitution Committee.The views of these intellectuals were expressed byMr W. E. G. Sekyi, the President of the Society, whenhe said thatcthe development of the people of this country and theirinherited institutions were seriously interfered with wheneducated chiefs began to degrade themselves by accept-ing seats in the Legislative Council. The position is worsenow that some ofour educated chiefs are in the ExecutiveCouncil. The ruin of the prospects of the people of thiscountry will be accelerated if we allow our chiefs tobecome Ministers, especially under the new constitution.'Mr Sekyi, who is a distinguished Cape Coast lawyer and'Elder Statesman', helped to draft the Coussey constitu-tional report, which undermines the very traditionalinstitutions and customs he seeks to preserve.

Despite the desertion of the large majority of chiefsfollowing the establishment of Native Administration,the Aborigines' Society refused to liquidate itself. With


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ABORIGINES* SOCIETY AND CONGRESS 43a few diehard adherents, the Society continued to main-tain a working committee with headquarters at CapeCoast. It even sent a two-man delegation, Messrs GeorgeE. Moore and Samuel R. Wood, to London in 1934 todemand a reform of the Guggisberg Constitution andprotest against the obnoxious Sedition and WaterworksBills which the then Governor, Sir Shenton Thomas,using his official majority, steam-rollered through theLegislative Council in the teeth of African opposition.Even Sir Ofori Atta, who had always worked hand inglove with the British officials, supported this opposition.But the legacy of distrust and hatred between theeducated Cape Coast Africans and this chiefwas still toostrong to bring about a reconciliation. Consequently,Sir Ofori Atta and others who had broken with theSociety formed their own ad hoc committee with thebacking of certain Accra politicians and the AsantemanCouncil of Chiefs to register separate protests againstthe policies of Sir Shenton Thomas.

They, too, sent a delegation to London. Thus twomissions arrived in England in the summer of 1934 forthe same purpose. As the missions were not on speakingterms, it was very easy for the imperial authorities to playone off against the other. For example, the then Conser-vative Secretary of State for Colonies, Lord Swinton,refused to receive the representatives of the Aborigines5Rights Protection Society on the ground that they hadno official status with the Gold Coast Government. Onthe other hand, the Colonial Secretary received Sir OforiAtta and his colleagues, two ofwhom were then membersof the Legislative Council, Dr F. V. Nanka Bruce ofAccra and Mr Kobina A. Korsah ofCape Coast (now apuisne judge), as well as Mr Akilagpa Sawyer, MrJamesMercer and Dr J. B. Danquah, representing the Colonyintellectuals, and Messrs I. K. Agyemoan and E. O.Asafu-Adjaye, representing the Asanteman Council. Bothmissions failed. Lord Swinton, having slammed the door


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44 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONin the face of the Society's representatives, sarcasticallytold Sir Ofori and his friends that the sedition law wasintended to protect the chiefs from "educated agitators

5,and refused to use his veto powers to rescind the Gover-

nor's action. Similarly, he refused to consider any changesin the constitution. The Ofori Atta delegation had askedfor 'the elimination ofthe official majority in the Legisla-tive Council, for permanent African representation onthe Governor's Executive Council, and for the eligibilityof non-chiefs as provincial members of the LegislativeCouncil9 . The reforms, however, were conceded in 1946by Sir Alan Burns, with the approval of the first post-warLabour Government Secretary of State for the Colonies,Mr George (now Viscount) Hall.Encouraged by the dissensions among the African poli-

tical leaders and the endorsement his policies received bythe refusal of the Colonial Office to restrain him, SirShenton Thomas set about riding roughshod over anyform of opposition in the country. The press was terror-ized and the politicians trembled before the sedition law,which made it a criminal offence for an African to befound in possession ofany kind ofliterature deemed to beseditious by the Governor. According to the ordinance,'whenever the Governor-in-Council is ofopinion that anynewspaper, book or document, or any part thereof con-tains any seditious words or writing, he may, if he thinksfit, by order-in-council, prohibit the importation into thecolony of such newspaper, book or document which ispublished periodically, may by the same or a subsequentorder-in-council, prohibit the importation

of any past orfuture issue thereof.'The law further provided that'any person who, being found in possession of any news-paper, book or document or any part thereof or extracttherefrom which has been declared by the Governor byorder-in-council to be prohibited to be imported into thecolony does not prove to the satisfaction of the court that


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ABORIGINES' SOCIETY AND CONGRESS 45it came into his possession without his knowledge orprivity shall be liable to imprisonment.

Sir Shenton Thomas was one of those autocratic pro-consuls who'believed that what the Gold Coast needed was stronggovernment and he was determined not to be thwartedby the childish and interested opposition that had ob-structed essential measures in the past3 [records MrMartin Wight, the British authority on colonial constitu-tions], cHe presided over only two sessions ofthe Council,and handled it in a firm manner which could suggestimpatience. It was in his view a platform of publishinggovernment measures rather than an incipient parlia-ment, and he tried to discover public opinion throughother channels as well.' 1

The Governor's dictatorial methods proved too mucheven for a lackey like Sir Ofori Atta, and hopes werearoused in certain quarters that he and other ParamountChiefs in the Legislative Council would make accommo-dation with educated municipal members of the Councilto bring about national unity. These hopes, however, un-fortunately never materialized. Many politically mindedAfricans blame Dr J. B. Danquah, brother of Sir OforiAtta and his legal adviser, for the failure. This view wasstronglyheld among the leaders oftheAborigines' Society.

Sir Shenton's term of office expired in the autumn of1934 and he was succeeded by Sir Arnold Hodson, whoimmediately set about keeping the chiefs in line withofficial policy by a mixture of cocktail parties and judi-cious flattery. His technique soon had Sir Ofori Atta andother disgruntled chiefs dancing to official tune.

'Sir Arnold Hodson3 [says Mr Wight], 'had somethingof the personal touch that was Guggisberg's strength andcharm; his informality gained him the name of "sunshineGovernor". He became associated in the public mind1 The Gold Coast Legislative Council by Martin Wight, Faber, p. 61.


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46 THE GOLD COAST REVOLUTIONwith football competitions, wireless rediffusion at a cheaprate, with loud-speakers in the markets, and the AccraTown Hall with its sprung dance floor and fully equippedmodern stage. Wherever possible he avoided politicalcontroversies, and when the cocoa hold-up involved himin the greatest political controversy in Gold Coast history,his tact and impartiality were recognized by Africanunofficial members/ 1Having succeeded in placating the chiefs and those

middle-class Africans who had been in opposition to hispredecessor's policies, Governor Hodson was able to usethe Sedition and Deportation Ordinance to suppresswhatever little radical nationalism existed in the GoldCoast at that time. Two well-known West African jour-nalists, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria and Mr WallaceJohnson of Sierra Leone, who were then living in Accra,were prosecuted for criticizing the British Government.They were both convicted by the Gold Coast court, butlater acquitted on appeal to the West African Court ofAppeal. Both of these men, who were the pioneers ofTan-Africanism5 and 'Home Rule for Africans', had toleave the Gold Coast because of the repressive conditionsthen prevailing in the Colony.By the time Governor Hodson retired, he had so com-

pletely won over the chiefs and re-established cordialrelations between them and the British political officersthat Sir Ofori Atta was able to assure him that 'you haveshown sympathy with the people in your dealings so far.Any Governor who comes to administer the affairs of thiscountry without sympathy cannot succeed. He may havethe power to rule without sympathy, I am afraid he isbound to fail and we are satisfied that you have shownsympathy/

Since the death of this bombastic self-seeking chief in1943, efforts have been made to bridge the differencesbetween the Joint Provincial Council of Chiefs which1 The Gold Coast Legislative Council by Martin Wight, Faber, p. 62.


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ABORIGINES* SOCIETY AND CONGRESS 47was largely under his influence and the Aborigines3Rights Protection Society by trying to get the Fanti rulersto return to the fold. But they have not responded;for as long as the Joint Provincial Council' continuesto enjoy official recognition as the channel of com-munication between the Central Government andtraditional authority, the chiefs naturally see no reasonto surrender their independence of action and return tothe Aborig

george padmore--the gold coast revolution[1]

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