Summary of The british and Ashanti Wars - How Ghana (Gold Coast) became a British colony

00:00:00 - 00:10:00

The British colony of Ghana was established after a series of wars between the British and the Asante people. The Asante were forced to cede control of southern territories and the road to their capital, Kumasi, and their power steadily declined after that. However, there were periodic outbreaks of fighting until the colony became a single, independent nation in 1957.

• 00:00:00 In this video, the history of the British colony of Ghana is explained, including the Ashanti Wars and how this led to the colony becoming a single, independent nation in 1957.
• 00:05:00 The British and Ashanti Wars were a series of conflicts between the British Empire and the Asante Empire over control of the coastline of what is now Ghana. The first conflict, the British and Asante Wars, began in 1807 when British merchants signed a treaty of friendship with the Asante people, recognizing their claims of sovereignty over large areas of the coast and its peoples. The coastal people primarily some of the Fantae and the inhabitants of the new town of Accra, who were chiefly gar came to rely on British protection against Asante incursions. However, the ability of the merchant companies to provide this security was limited, and the British Crown dissolved the company in 1821, giving authority over British forts on the Gold Coast to Governor Charles McCarthy. McCarthy's mandate was to impose peace and to end the slave trade, and he sought to do this by encouraging the coastal peoples to oppose Kumasi rule by closing the great roads to the coast. Incidents and sporadic warfare continued, however, although McCarthy was killed and most of his force was wiped out in a battle with Asante forces in 1824. An Asante invasion of the coast in 1826 was defeated, nevertheless, by a combined force of British and local forces, including the Fantae and the people of
• 00:10:00 The British conquered Ghana in 1873, after years of Dutch control. The British wanted to prevent the Asante from losing their last trade outlet to the sea, and the Asante staged their last invasion of the coast in 1873. After early successes, the British came up against well-trained British forces and were forced to retreat. Later attempts to negotiate a settlement were rejected by the commander of the British forces. Major General Sir Garnet Woolsey to settle the Asante problem permanently. The British invaded Asante with a sizable military force and the attack launched in January 1874 by 2500 British soldiers and large numbers of African auxiliaries resulted in the occupation and burning of Kumasi. The Asante capital the subsequent peace treaty required the Asante to renounce any claim to many southern territories. The Asante also had to keep the road to Kumasi open to trade from this point on. Asante power steadily declined and the confederation slowly disintegrated as subject territories broke away and protected regions defected to British rule. The warrior spirit of the nation was not entirely subdued, but enforcement of the treaty led to recurring difficulty and outbreaks of fighting in 1896, 1898, 1900, and 1902. The British dispached another expedition that again occupied Kumasi and forced As