Gold Coast Crown Colony

Colony of the Gold Coast
Crown Colony
1821–1957
Flag Coat of arms
The Gold Coast (red) British possessions in Africa (red & pink) 1913
Capital		Cape Coast (1821–1877) Accra (1877–1957)
Languages		English (official) Ga, Akan, Ewe language, Dangme, Dagbani, Gonja widely spoken
Religion		Christianity, Islam, traditional African religion
Government		Colonial
Historical era		World War I
•	Colony established	1821
•	Incorporation of the Danish Gold Coast	1850
•	Incorporation of the Dutch Gold Coast	6 April 1872
•	Combination with local kingdoms	1901
•	Admission of British Togoland	27 December 1916
•	Incorporation of British Togoland	13 December 1956
•	Independence as Ghana	6 March 1957
Currency		Gold Coast ackey British West African pound
Preceded by Succeeded by Ashanti Empire British Togoland Dutch Gold Coast Danish Gold Coast Ghana (Commonwealth realm)
Today part of		Ghana

The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa from 1867 to its independence as the nation of Ghana in 1957.

The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial deposits of gold in the soil. The kingdoms had a tradition of enslaving captives taken in warfare. Some were sold to Arab traders from North Africa and transported to Islamic Mediterranean civilizations.

In 1482, the Portuguese came to the continent for increased trade. They built the Castle of Elmina, the first European settlement on the Gold Coast. From here they acquired slaves and gold in trade for European goods, such as metal knives, beads, mirrors, rum, and guns. News of the successful trading spread quickly, and eventually British, Dutch, Danish, Prussian and Swedish traders arrived as well. The European traders built several forts along the coastline. The Gold Coast had long been a name for the region used by Europeans because of the large gold resources found in the area. The slave trade was the principal exchange and major part of the economy for many years. In this period, European nations began to explore and colonize the Americas. Soon the Portuguese and Spanish began to export African slaves to the Caribbean, and North and South America. The Dutch and British also entered the slave trade, at first supplying markets in the Caribbean and on the Caribbean coast of South America.

The Royal Trading Company was established by the Crown in 1752 to lead its trading in Africa. It was replaced by the African Company of Merchants, which led the British trading efforts into the early 19th century. In 1821 the British government withdrew their charter and seized privately held lands along the coast. In 1867 the government formed the British Gold Coast colony, after having taken over the remaining interests of other European countries. They purchased and incorporated the Danish Gold Coast in 1850 and the Dutch Gold Coast, including Fort Elmina, in 1872. Britain steadily expanded its colony through the invasion and subjection of local kingdoms as well, particularly the Ashanti and Fante confederacies.