The Gold Coast

September 12, 2013

(Click here to get your own 1729 Gold Coast Map!)

Known as the Gold Coast ever since Europeans began arriving there in the 15th century, the region of West Africa along the Gulf of Guinea was the locus of a centuries-long battle between native and colonial powers. The Portuguese were the first to arrive in 1471, whereupon they built a fort called the Castle of Elmina and began trading slaves, gold, beads, rum and guns. Portuguese success would soon entice other European traders and forts began popping up all along the coast. Eventually, the British would seize private land as well as local kingdoms and consolidate their holdings to form a colony in 1867. Needless to say, this didn’t exactly thrill native populations and soon led to the Anglo-Ashanti Wars. The colony wouldn’t gain independence until 1957, when it became the country of Ghana.