The Company had acquired a political and economic presence upon the subcontinent. Also during this period other companies, most notably the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and Danish, had similar successes in the Indian theatre of trade. Although the Company ruled the areas of their factories and trading posts, the beginning of true British authority in India is often dated from the 1757 Battle of Plassey. In this battle the British faced off against the Nawab of Bengal and French allies.
The Republic of Ghana is named after the medieval West African Ghana Empire,[1] The Empire became known in Europe and Arabia as the Ghana Empire by the title of its emperor, the Ghana. The Empire appears to have broken up following the 1076 conquest by the Almoravid General Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar. A reduced kingdom continued to exist after Almoravid rule ended, and the Kingdom was later incorporated into subsequent Sahelian empires, such as the Mali Empire several centuries later. Geographically, the ancient Ghana Empire was approximately 500 miles (800 km) north and west of the modern state of Ghana, and controlled territories in the area of the Sénégal river and east towards the Niger rivers, in modern Senegal, Mauritania and Mali. Historically, modern Ghanaian territory was the core of the Empire of Ashanti, which was one of the most advanced states in sub-Sahara Africa in the 18–19th centuries, before colonial rule.
Britain also established companies in India and Africa. Due to the trade between the colonies via the companies, Britain started to generate a large consistent income. Mercantilist policies were introduced shortly after 1680. A factor that led to Britain gaining its reputation and wealth were that it established a strong connection with its merchants. The merchants were happy to trade with Britain as a policy of Britain was to protect its clients.
Access to commodities such as fabrics, spices, and gold motivated a European quest for a faster means to reach South Asia. It was this search that led the Portuguese down the coast of West Africa to Sierra Leone in 1460. Due to several technological and cultural advantages, Portugal dominated world trade for nearly 200 years, from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries. While, in the fifteenth century, the rest of Europe was decimated by the Black Plague, Portugal was protected by its physical isolation. Additionally, Portugal had an unusually strong national identity, due to its natural geographic borders, allowing the pooling of the considerable economic resources necessary to fund these ambitious explorations.
Ghana (Listeni/ˈɡɑːnə/), officially called the Republic of Ghana, is a sovereign multinational state and unitary presidential constitutional democracy, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Ghana is the 82nd largest country in the world and 33rd largest country on continental Africa by land mass, and Ghana has a land mass of 238,535 km2, with 2,093 kilometres of international land borders. The country is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King". [12] Ghana is a constitutional democracy divided into ten administrative regions, and the world's 56th−most inhabited nation with a population of approximately 27 million as of 2014.
The countries involved in the ‘Scramble for Africa’ were Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Italy. A key economic feature of colonialism was producing and exporting raw materials either agricultural or mineral, precious metals such as gold, silver and copper. Tropical products for luxury consumption such as coffee, sugar, spices, timber and fabrics like cotton. Later when Britain, France and Germany were competing against each other for colonies in Africa in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the international market had changed rapidly with a huge demand for raw materials for manufacturing such as jute, cotton, rubber and sisal (Bernstein, 1992:48). Mass consumption demand such as tea, sugar and vegetable oils (Bernstein, 1992:48).
Official Name: Ghana Capital: Accra Independence: The Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so, and the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of west Africa. Ghana is a member of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union, and an associate member of La Francophonie. Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world and is home to Lake Volta, the largest artificial lake in the world by surface area. Location: located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south.
(Before 1800) The Benin kingdom (not to be confused with the modern Republic of Benin) was established before 1400, most likely in the 13th century, just west of the lower reaches of the Niger River in what is today Nigeria. According to oral tradition, the first king of the new dynasty was the grandson of a Yoruba king of Ile-Ife. Benin reached its greatest power and geographical extent in the 16th century. The kingdom’s vicissitudes and slow decline thereafter culminated in 1897, when the British burned and sacked the Benin palace and city. Benin City thrives today, however, and the palace, where the Benin king continues to live, has been partially rebuilt.
Ghana is located on the west coast of Africa, a former British colony known as the gold coast. In 1957 Ghana became the first country in the colonial sub-Saharan Africa to get her independence. It is surrounded by Cote d’lvire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Ghana is 88,811 square miles, with a total area of 92,456 square miles and in 2010; Ghana’s population was estimated to be 24.330.939. Ghana’s national language is English, is the main language of government and teaching (http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Ghana.html#ix1RZ7o0Qmv).
Narrate the incidents during the Scramble for Africa 5. Describe the results of the Scramble for Africa 6. Identify countries that were colonies by European countries in Africa European imperialism Imperialism is a term that refers to the economic and political domination or control of one country or nation by another one which is technologically and economically more advanced. Therefore, European imperialism was the economic and political domination of other nations world over by European powers. For more than three centuries the European nations had extended their influence and imperialism into other continents such as Asia, Latin America, the West Indies, and Africa.