22/06/2022
Before Ghana's independence in 1957, these were the 4 major and separate territories of the country.
Gold Coast Colony: Refers to the areas of present-day Central, Western, Eastern, Greater Accra Regions, and some parts of the present-day Volta Region. Formerly called the British Protectorate, because, they were being protected by the British. And in 1874, they were formally proclaimed a British colony, under the name Gold Coast because, they have submitted their freedom to be colonized by the British. Their administrative government was the British Governors, who was in charge of all their administrative works.
Ashanti Crown: Refers to the areas of present-day Ashanti Region, Ahafo Region, Bono, and Bono East Regions. The head of government of the Ashanti Crown was the Asantehene,..... at the time (1874) the British had easily colonised the Southern part of Ghana, it took another three decades before the Ashanti kingdom and its dependencies in the north were finally brought under British control. It was after Asante's defeat in Yaa Asantewaa War that the British got access to the North to colonize them as well. In 1935, the Ashanti Kingdom had its independence as a separate government and independent territory. The Asante Confederacy was restored and the Asantehene again became the head of government for the Kingdom.
Northern Territories: The Northern Territories was a British protectorate from 1901 until 1957. The protectorate was administered by the Governor of the Gold Coast under a Chief Commissioner residing at Gambaga. Several treaties were concluded in the name of Her Britannic Majesty with the Chiefs of Bona, Dagarti, Wa, and Mamprusi at Gambaga. These treaties were made in 1896. Under the treaties, the Chiefs agreed not to conclude treaties with any other Power or to cede territory, or to accept protectorates without the consent of Her Britannic Majesty. The Northern Territories were constituted as a district in 1897. The Northern Territories were formally established as a protectorate in 1901 under the Northern Territories Order in Council 1901 made on 26 September 1901. The Northern Territories remained a protectorate until the Ghana Independence Act 1957 annexed the Northern Territories by providing that the territories included immediately before 6 March 1957 in the Gold Coast should, as from that day, form part of Her Majesty's dominions by the name of Ghana.
Trans-Volta Togoland: British Togoland, officially the Mandate Territory of Togoland and later officially the Trust Territory of Togoland, under the administration of the United Kingdom, which subsequently entered into union with Ghana, part becoming its Volta Region. It was effectively formed in 1916 by the splitting of the German protectorate of Togoland into two territories, French Togoland and British Togoland, during the First World War. Initially, it was a League of Nations Class B mandate. In 1922, British Togoland was formally placed under British rule while French Togoland, now Togo, was placed under French rule.
This is the history and the territories of Ghana, before the Gold Coast Colony, Northern Territories, and British Mandated Togoland were merged as one, later the already Independent Ashanti Kingdom agreed to form part of the new union to help fight for the independence of the country.
Ashanti participation in the Gold Coast independence struggle increased sharply with the coming of the Coussey Constitution and the holding, for the first time, of elections in the entire Gold Coast territory (the Colony, Asante, and Northern Territories) to elect members to a unitary national assembly. That is when the Gold Coast began its real struggle for independence as one unit. And when that time came, most young Asante politicians (including RR Amponsah and Victor Owusu) initially joined the CPP.
Ghana's independence was fought by the whole country and not a particular tribe and group of people.
UNITE don't DIVIDE!!!
© The Asante Nation
