Ghana, once known as the Gold Coast, is known for its rich history, culture, and natural resources. Inhabited many thousands of years ago. From a long history of colonization, Ghana boasts being the first sub-Saharan country to be from colonial rule. Tribal wars with Europeans created a sense of identity and pride. Resistance to colonial powers nonetheless shaped Ghana for the later part of the twentieth century and ultimately to the rest of Africa. Played a pivotal role linking three continents through trade. Power and sophistication. Africa’s history is often overlooked because it is not always revealed in written records. However, the continent’s history is rich and valuable usually found in artifacts, culture and traditions of the people.
How it came into being Asante emerged a little over ago in territory now occupied by the Republic of Ghana. There weren’t crowns but stools. The Asante Kingdom was one of the most powerful states in West Africa. Established in dense forests its civilization was unlikely to survive due to intense heat. Despite conditions, a complex and sophisticated kingdom emerged. Kumasi, still present in modern day Ghana, was the center of the kingdom. The most important symbol to the Asante concerning their origins their origins and unity is a golden stool. According to folklore the golden stool is a spirit of the Asante nation and gives the Asante people a strong sense of belonging.
Some of the longest and most effective military resistance to European conquest in West Africa took place in the Asante Kingdom. Europeans traders initially sailed to West Africa in search for gold, ivory, and slaves. They built forts along the coasts, establishing not only trade, but also their power. The British Empire settled and colonized Ghana for over a century and originally named the country the “Gold Coast” due to the abundance of gold found in the region. Their establishments didn’t come easy. At the start of the nineteenth century, when the Asante Kingdom was at its height. And British interests collided. By far was the century long struggle between the Asante and British.
From 1807 to 1900 British and Asante armies fought numerous small and large battles. The British fought other wars with different tribes such as the Fante and Ga in southern Ghana however, Asante wars were more prominent. Trying to gain control, the British insisted on their racial and cultural supremacy. The Asante too were proud and self- righteous people. The British were mainly concerned with revenue collection for their empire, acquiring labor for public works, and also being accepted by the Asante. They believed to gain acceptance and fully have control, they had to secure the golden stool, the supreme symbol of Asante kingship and unity. Despite an inferiority in weapons that grew as the years passed, the Asante stayed determined. In 1895 fearing that Germany and France might gain their influence, the British government asked Asante King Prempreh I to allow them to establish a garrison in the capital of Kumasi. After the king refused several requests the British sent troops to arrests him where he then was exiled to Seychelles. They continued and built a small fort in the city. In March 1900, Sir Frederick Hodgson, governor of the Gold Coast, called for a meeting in the British fort. He addressed a gathering of Asante rulers and had specific requests. First he made it clear that the former king, Prempreh I would not return to Kumasi. Second, that the authority of the kings were now vested in the Resident, the military predecessor of the projected chief commissioner who represented the Queen of England. Third, the Resident had the right to claim compulsory labor for public works, road construction, and transportation. Next that interest on the expenditure on the war of 1874 and the expedition of 1896 had to be repaid and taxes would be levied on the Asante. And lastly Hodgson demanded the golden stool be surrendered to the British authorities, who had now replaced Osei Tutu’s descendants as its occupants. The Asante rulers were also ordered to confine themselves to Kumasi and its villages in matters of dispute settlement and others in which the British colonial authorities instructed them. This was the major British measure for “pacifying” Asante and preventing it from fighting against the imposition of alien rule. To the British, the loss of this national symbol, with its accepted mystical attributes would destroy the sentiment felt towards it and hence the bonds of unity among the Asante people. It was to advance British policies in these areas. Hodgson’s speech imposed a new Asante-British relationship. British rule was no longer to be considered a temporary episode but an enduring ordeal. Their own king was stripped of his… and would never be able to return. The Asante were to pay what amounted to tribute to foreigners and give up existing long-established institutions; and the Golden Stool was to become a trophy.
After attempting to seize a valuable object to the Asante Kingdom, a final uprising took place with British government Following Sir Hodgson’s demands for the golden stool, a rebellion was organized and led by Yaa Asantewaa, Queen mother of Ejesu. She became commander and chief of the Asante army . The main events centered around the search for the Golden Stool, the siege of the fort, and the harassment of the rear-guard of the governor’s party as it broke through the siege. By July 1900, a relief column reached Kumasi and freed the malnourished and sick Britons inside the fort.
The Asante kingdom became a colony in 1901 by conquest. Yaa Asantewaa was also exiled.
Ghana’s transition from colonization to independence in the later decades undoubtedly required the same sense of pride used to fight in Anglo-Asante wars. These wars would further inspire generations to come. The War of the Golden Stool was one of the earliest events leading up to Ghana’s struggle for independence. Yaa Asantewaa symbolizes nationalism and anticolonial struggle. Nana Yaa Asantewaa’s role in the 1900 resistance war exceeded the normal political and military roles of Asante women. She did not merely dare the men to fight. The men recognized in her a potential leader and elected her as the first female war-leader, sahene ; it was an, not an ascribed, position. As leader of the resistance, she personified the Asante historic military tradition and values, and gave expression to Asante’s intense objection to foreign rule. The war she led was lost, as she and her co-leaders probably knew it would be in view of British advanced weaponry. She stood for Asante’s final stand against British imperialism.
Other African states that would strive for autonomy from European colonial rulers. First West African country. Influences others. Ideas about independence spread and there are waves new forms of colonization would EMERGE