The Republic of Ghana: A History

           

Flag Map of Ghana. By Maphill, 2011. http://www.
maphill.com/ghana/maps/flag-map/flag-middle/.

            The Republic of Ghana is a small West African nation situated on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. Lying only a few degrees above the Equator, Ghana possesses a tropical, humid climate, and is comprised primarily of low-lying grassy plains and savanna. An area of hills and tropical rainforest extends north from the coast along Ghana’s western border. The Volta, Ghana’s only navigable river, flows through the center of the country into the Gulf of Guinea; the Volta is dammed by the Akosombo Dam, creating Lake Volta, which provides electrical power, transportation, and irrigation. Ghana derives its name from the ancient West African Ghana Empire, which comprised the area of present-day southwestern Mali and southeastern Mauritania. The Ghana Empire was properly known as Wagadugu; the word ghana, meaning “warrior king,” actually referred to the kings of Ghana.[1] Prior to gaining independence from Britain in March 1957, Ghana was known as the Gold Coast.

Map Showing Modern Ghana and the Old Empire
of Ghana. By Martin W. Lewis, December 10, 2011.
http://www.geocurrents.info/historical-geography/
ethnic-politics-and-the-relocation-of-ghana-benin-
and-mauritania. 

             Ghana possesses a rich cultural and ethnic diversity, boasting approximately 100 ethnic and linguistic groups.[2] Religious diversity is a feature of Ghanaian culture as well; according to a 2010 census, 71.2% of the population are Christian, including 28.3% Pentecostal, 18.4% Protestant, 13.1% Catholic, and 11.4% “other;” 17.6% profess to be Muslim; 5.2% follow Traditional African religions; .8% adhere to other religions, such as Buddhism; and 5.2% claim no religious beliefs.[3] English is the official language of Ghana.

Ghana has a rich and interesting history, though not much is known about the region or its peoples prior to the colonial era; what is known is derived from traditional oral histories and scant archaeological evidence.[4] Oral histories record migrations of peoples from the north and east into the northern and central regions of the country; the Akan peoples dominated the southern region, extending their influence north into Ghana’s central and forest regions. The greatest factor in shaping the region has been trade: Berry notes that “… the area known today as Ghana has been involved in all phases of Africa’s economic development during the last thousand years.”[5] Gold, which was so abundant in the area Europeans would give the region the sobriquet “the Gold Coast,” was traded via the trans-Saharan trade routes as early as the third century A.D.[6] The trans-Saharan gold trade stimulated the formation of early Akan states in southern Ghana.

 Seeking to gain control of the flow of gold from West Africa, Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal initiated advances in shipbuilding and navigation and encouraged the exploration of Africa; soon, Portuguese trading vessels began to extend their influence south along the Atlantic coast of the continent. The Portuguese landed on the Gold Coast in 1472, and began trading with the Akan-speaking peoples of the coastal region for slaves, gold, and ivory- the Atlantic slave trade had come to the Gold Coast. They built a castle at El Mina, meaning “the mine;” this was the first European settlement on the West Coast of Africa below the Sahara.[7] Prince Henry had realized his ambition of redirecting the trans-Saharan gold trade to the coast, where it was subsumed by Portuguese traders. Portugal would monopolize trade with West Africa for the next century.

Elmina Castle. By the Ghana National Museum on Slavery and Freedom, 2016.
http://www.gnmosaf.org/the-castles/

In the seventeenth century, Portugal encountered competition for the West African trade from the Netherlands, France, and England. In 1642, the Dutch took El Mina from the Portuguese; Dutch traders expanded the Atlantic slave trade, supplying slaves to British and French sugar plantation colonies in the Caribbean. Soon, however, the French and British, envious of the wealth the Dutch were amassing, ousted the Dutch and assumed control of the slave trade.[8] By the latter half of the 1800s, only the Dutch and British remained. With the departure of the Dutch, the British declared the coastal region of the Gold Coast a crown colony in 1874.

After gaining control of the Gold Coast, the British turned their attention to acquiring inland territories. The largest ethnic polity in the region was the Ashanti Kingdom; the Ashanti controlled the central region of present-day Ghana. Tensions between the British and the Ashanti resulted in conflict that lasted until 1901, when Britain finally defeated the Ashanti and annexed the Kingdom to the Gold Coast colony. The following year, the northern territories of present-day Ghana became British protectorates.[9] In 1956, the Volta region voted to become part of Ghana, completing the territory comprising modern Ghana.[10]

Ghana Voice. "Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Speech on 6th march 1957 at the 

independence square". Filmed March 6, 1957. Youtube video, 15:07.

Posted May 16, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTTdi8AjZg8.

On March 6, 1957, the newly renamed Republic of Ghana became the first sub-Saharan nation to declare independence; Kwame Nkrumah became the Republic of Ghana’s first president. Despite a promising economic and political outlook, Ghana suffered economic and political instability for much of its post-colonial history, enduring successive republics and military juntas.[11]  In 1992, Ghana’s current constitution was adopted, and in November the Fourth Republic was declared; the Fourth Republic continues today.

Trade, which has played such an important role in Ghana’s history, continues to be a factor in the country’s development. According to Professor Kwame Henaku Addo, mineral and ore production accounts for nearly 40 percent of the nation’s exports. Agricultural products include timber, oil palm, rubber, cocoa, and kola nuts. Furthermore, Ghana is considered a “world-class” producer and exporter of gold and cocoa, as well as an emerging oil-producing nation.[12] Recent discoveries of oil and natural gas deposits in the Gulf of Guinea have attracted the attention of world oil consuming nations, including the United States, promising to make Ghana an important player in the energy sector.[13]

dasiba. "Cultural Dance in Northern Ghana". Youtube video, 9:57.

 Posted August 6, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A481tGo_T7o

Ghana is rich in ethnic, cultural and religious diversity and possesses a fascinating history. The greatest factors influencing the history of Ghana were trade, especially in gold and slaves, and contact with Europeans, which resulted in exploitation and colonization. Gaining independence in March 1957, Ghana has endured political and economic instability for much of its post-colonial history. However, recently Ghana has enjoyed a stable government and economic growth, and is poised to become an important factor in the world economy. As Owusu-Mensah asserts, “Ghana over the last twenty years has earned recognition internationally as the beacon of democracy in Africa south of the Sahara and indeed in most of Africa.”[14]  

Robbins, William. "Final Multimedia Project, HIWD 320-D01".Filmed October, 2016. Youtube video, 4:42. Posted October, 2016.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3J6pXB6Kzw&feature=youtu.be.

 Bibliography

Addo, Kwame Henaku. "Naturally Resourced." Government of Ghana. 2013. Accessed September 22, 2016. http://www.ghana.gov.gh/images/documents/naturally_ resourced.pdf.

An Introduction to the History of Ghana. 2016. Accessed October 13, 2016. http:// exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/module-twenty-four-activity-two/.

Berry, LaVerle Bennette. Ghana : A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1995. Accessed October 13, 2016. https://www.loc. gov/item/95018891/.

Chouin, Gerard L., and Christopher R. Decorse. "Prelude to the Atlantic Trade: New Perspectives on Southern Ghana's Pre-Atlantic History (800-1500)." Journal of African History 52 (2010): 123-145. Accessed October 19, 2016. doi:10.1017/ S0021853710000241.

Ethnic Groups. 2016. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://www.ghanaweb.com/ GhanaHomePage/tribes/.

Garrard, Timothy F. "Myth and Metrology: The Early Trans-Saharan Gold Trade." The Journal of African History 23, no. 4 (1982): 443-461. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://www. jstor.org/stable/182035.

General Information. 2016. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://www.ghanaweb.com/ GhanaHomePage/general/statistics.php.

Ghana at a Glance. 2016. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/ about-ghana/ghana-at-a-glance.

"Ghana Strikes Oil in Commercial Quantities." GhanaWeb. June 18, 2007. Accessed September 22, 2016. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-strikes-oil-in-commercial-quantities-125783.

History of Ghana. 2016. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://www.ghanaweb.com/ GhanaHomePage/history/ (accessed October 18, 2016).

Owusu-Mensah, Isaac. "Politics, Chieftancy and Customary Law in Ghana's Fourth Republic." Journal of Pan African Studies 6, no. 7 (February 2014): 261-278. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=vic_liberty&id= GALE|A367421052&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&userGroup=vic_liberty

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1999.

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[1] “History of Ghana,” Ghanaweb, 2016, accessed October 18, 2016, http://www.ghanaweb.com/ GhanaHomePage/history/.

[2] “Ethnic Groups,” Ghanaweb, 2016, accessed October 19, 2016, http://www.ghanaweb.com/ GhanaHomePage/tribes/

[3] “General Information,” Ghanaweb, 2016, accessed October 19, 2016, http://www.ghanaweb.com/ GhanaHomePage/general/statistics.php

[4] Garrard L. Chouin and Christopher R. Decorse, “Prelude to the Atlantic Trade: New Perspectives on Southern Ghana’s Pre-Atlantic History (800-1500),” Journal of African History 52, (2010): 125, accessed October 19, 2016, doi:10.1017/S0021853710000241.

[5] LaVerle Bennette Berry, ed., Ghana: A Country Study (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1995), 133, accessed October 13, 2016, https://www.loc.gov/item/95018891/.

[6] Timothy F. Garrard, “Myth and Metrology: The Early Trans-Saharan Gold Trade,” The Journal of African Studies 23, no. 4, (1982): 458, accessed October 19, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/182035.

[7] John Reader, Africa: A Biography of the Continent (6^th ed.), (New York: Vintage Books, 1999), 343.

[8] Reader, Africa, 382.

[9] “An Introduction to the History of Ghana,” Exploring Ghana, 2016, accessed October 13, 2016, http://exploringafrica. matrix.msu.edu/module-twenty-four-activity-two/.

[10] Berry, Ghana, xxx.

[11] “Ghana at a Glance,” Government of Ghana, 2016, accessed August 30, 2016, http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/about-ghana/ghana-at-a-glance

[12] Kwame Henaku Addo, “Naturally Resourced,” Government of Ghana, 2013, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ghana.gov.gh/images/documents/naturally_resourced.pdf.

[13] “Ghana Strikes Oil in Commercial Quantities,” Ghanaweb, June 18, 2007, accessed September 22, 2016, http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-strikes-oil-in-commercial-quantities-125783.

[14] Isaac Owusu-Mensah, “Politics, Chieftancy and Customary Law in Ghana’s Fourth Republic,” Journal of Pan African Studies 6, no.4, (2014): 261, accessed October 19, 2016, http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=vic_liberty&id=GALE|A367421052&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&userGroup=vic_liberty