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To Wassa Fiase for Gold: Rethinking Colonial Rule, El Dorado, Antislavery, and Chieftaincy in the Gold Coast (Ghana), 1874–1895

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2014

Kwabena O. Akurang-Parry
Kwabena O. Akurang-Parry*
Affiliation:
Shippensburg University
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Extract

In a recent book, El Dorado in West Africa, Raymond E. Dumett examines the history of gold-mining in Wassa Fiase in the Western Province of the Gold Coast during the last three decades of the nineteenth century. Among other thematic preoccupations, Dumett argues that until the late 1890s the British colonial authorities did very little to encourage capitalist gold-mining in Wassa Fiase. Resurrecting the ghost of local crisis, he argues that the colonial intervention in Wassa Fiase was due to king Enimil Kwao's ineptitude, structural conflict inherent in chieftaincy, and problems of African rulers' territorial jurisdictions.

Dumett also asserts that it was a forceful London-based antislavcry lobby and Governor George Strahan's tactlessness that drove the colonial state to intervene in Wassa Fiase. Although Britain was at the center stage of the unprecedented global commodification of gold in the late nineteenth century, Dumett evokes serendipity as the cause of the British colonial intervention in the gold-rich Wassa Fiase. Overall, his explication of the aims and processes of colonial rule in Wassa Fiase is couched in theses of an “unpredictable course” and “a government policy (more rather a nonpolicy) [sic] riddled with vacillation and half measures…”

The first part of the present study reviews the literature, while the second section, based on new official sources and newspaper accounts, gives additional insights into Enimil Kwao's slave-dealing trial and his consequent exile to Lagos, hence reevaluates the objectives of the colonial state and the Colonial Office. The study complements the work of Francis Agbodeka and Paul Rosenblum, who have respectively argued that colonial rule in Wassa Fiase paved the way for capitalist gold-mining.

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 30 , 2003 , pp. 11 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2003

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References

1 I presented portions of this paper at the Harriet Tubman Seminar Series, organized by Paul E. Lovejoy under the auspices of the York/UNESCO Nigerian Hinterland Project as a graduate student in 1998. I thank Lovejoy and David Trotman, both of York University, and Toyin Falola of the University of Texas at Austin for their suggestions. I also wish to thank anonymous reviewers of the paper who asked me to make reference to Dumett, Raymond E., El Dorado in West Africa: The Gold-Mining Frontier, African Labor, and Colonial Capitalism in the Gold Coast, 1875-1900 (Athens, 1998)Google Scholar. I wish to point out that the original paper was completed long before the publication of Dumett's book. Even in its original form, the paper's arguments disputed Dumett's conclusions on colonial aims in Wassa Fiase and policies toward Enimil Kwao.

2 Ibid., 86-88, 163-72, 277-78.

3 For the processes of abolition in the Gold Coast sec Dumett, Raymond, “Pressure Groups, Bureaucracy, and the Decision-Making Process: the Case of Slavery Abolition and Colonial Expansion in the Gold Coast, 1874,” Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 9(1981), 193–216CrossRefGoogle Scholar; McSheffrey, Gerald M., “Slavery, Indentured Servitude, Legitimate Trade and the Impact of Abolition in the Gold Coast, 1874-1901,” JAH 24(1983), 249–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dumett, Raymond and Johnson, Marion, “Britain and the Suppression of Slavery in the Gold Coast Colony, Ashanti and the Northern Territories” in Miers, Suzanne and Roberts, Richard, eds., The End of Slavery in Africa (Madison 1988), 71–116Google Scholar; Akurang-l'arry, Kwabena O., “Missy Queen in her Palaver Sayes de Gole Coase Slave is Free: Abolition of Slavery/Pawnship and Colonial Labor Recruitment in the Gold Coast (Southern Ghana) 1874-1940” (Ph.D., York University, 1998)Google Scholar; Opare-Akurang, Kwabena [Akurang-Parry, ], “The Administration of the Abolition Laws, African Responses, and Post-Proclamation Slavery in Colonial Southern Ghana, 1874-1940,” Slavery and Abolition 19(1998), 149–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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5 See, for example, ibid., 8-11, 20.

6 Ibid., 173, 277.

7 Agbodeka, Francis, African Politics and British Policy in the Gold Coast 1868-1900 (London, 1971), 104–06Google Scholar; and Rosenblum, Paul, “Gold Mining in Ghana 1874-1900” (Ph.D., Columbia University, 1972), 72–117Google Scholar.

8 Dumett, , El Dorado, 277–78Google Scholar. For Joseph Chamberlain's policies, sec idem., “Joseph Chamberlain, Imperial Finance and Railway Policy in British West Africa in the Late Nineteenth Century,” English Historical Review 9 (1975), 287-321; and Chada, G.T.Z., “Labor Protests, Group Consciousness and Trade Unionism in West Africa: The Radical Railway Workers of Colonial Ghana” (Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1981), 1–37Google Scholar.

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11 See the reports on the potential of the goldfields, Wassa in the African Times (London)Google Scholar between 1862 and ca. 1899; Burton, Richard F. and Cameron, Verney L., To the Gold Coast for Gold (2 vols.: London, 1883)Google Scholar; and Gold Coast Reports on Gold Mines, Parliamentary Papers 1889, C.5620-24.

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13 Agbodeka, , African Politics, 104–06Google Scholar; Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 82–117Google Scholar.

14 Ibid.

15 Agbodeka, , African Politics, 104–06Google Scholar.

16 Dumett, , El Dorado, 8–9Google Scholar.

17 Ibid., 24-25, 85-86, 163-66. Dumett's conclusion is not based on any substantive empirical evidence, but rather on a critical quarryiiig of the literature: the colonial government distrusted freebooting miners and concession dealers; the government was alarmed by the potential destablizing effects of expatriate mining; and that the government adhered to laissez-faire principles. See especially ibid., 85.

18 For further information on the activities of the four European gold prospectors in Wassa, Akyem Abuakwa, Twifo Denkyera, and Kumasi, see, for example, Strahan to Carnarvon, 2 August 1875, No. 65, in Papers Relating to Her Majesty's Possessions in West Africa, Parliamentary Papers, 1876, C.1402; and C.1402, Strahan to Carnarvon, 11 June 1875, Encl. 2 in 70.

19 Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76, 18 March 1875, No. 71, National Archives of Ghana/Accra (hereafter NAG/A), ADM 1/2/20.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

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23 See Dumett, , El Dorado, 24Google Scholar.

24 Rowe to Surveyor General, 23 July 1884, Encl. 1 to Appendix D, in Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1885, C.4477; and C.4477, Surveyor General to Rowe, 2 August 1884, Encl. 2 to Appendix D.

25 African Times, 1 June 1880, 62, with emphasis in originalGoogle Scholar.

26 African Times, 1 December 1883, 139Google Scholar. See also C.4477, Rowe to Derby, 14 February 1883, No. 2. For a similar development in 1875, sec Strahan to Carnarvon, 18 March 1875, Encl. in No. 47, in Papers Relating to Her Majesty's Possessions in West Africa, Parliamentary Papers, 1875, C.1343.

27 See, for example, C.4477, Acting Colonial Secretary to Thompson, 18 November 1883, Encl. 5 in No. 18; and C.4477, Rowe to Derby, 19 January 1884, No. 18.

28 Among others, C.4477, Rowe to Derby, 13 December 1883, No. 4, in this instance the road was “quite two and a half miles”; C.4477, Thompson to Inspector General, 11 December 1883, Encl. 7 in No. 18; and Report for the Quarter Ended 31 March, 1893, 26 May 1893, No. 284/62, NAG/A, ADM 27/15.

29 C.4477, Thompson to Governor-in-Chief, 25 February 1883, Encl. 3 in No. 18. See also Dumett, , El Dorado, 184–86Google Scholar.

30 C.4477, Dudley to Colonial Secretary in Charge of Native Affairs, 23 July 1883, Encl. 2 in No. 14.

31 Rowe to Derby, 20 August 1883, No. 15, in Further Correspondence Regarding the Affairs of the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1884, C.4052; C. 4477, Kirby to Colonial Secretary, 29 December 1883, Encl. 1 in No. 7; C. 4477, Rowe to Derby, 29 January 1884, No. 18; Firminger to Governor, 8 April 1886, Encl. 1 in No. 11, in Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1886, C.4906; Lonsdale to King Attah Brah, 10 February 1887, Encl. 8 in No. 24, in Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1888, C.5357; and Vandyke to Ackers, 11 September 1888, Encl. 5 in No. 45, in Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1888, C.5615.

32 For the Manso-Praso-Salaga trade route, sec C.1402, Strahan to Carnarvon, 25 October 1875, No. 77. For a fuller account see Kwabena O. Akurang-Parry, “Rethinking the ‘Slaves of Salaga’:” Post-Proclamation Slavery in the Gold Coast,” Left History, forthcoming

33 See the numerous reports in C.4477.

34 Dumett, , El Dorado, 156-57, 184–86Google Scholar.

35 Ibid., 188-92.

36 See, for example, C.4477, Rowe to Derby, 13 December 1883, No. 4; and Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1883, 29 November 1883, No. 413, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/34.

37 Dumett, , El Dorado, 86–88Google Scholar.

38 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76, 22 April 1876, No. 101, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/20; Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76, 4 March 1876, No. 48, NAG/A, ADM, 1/2/20; Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1876-77, 5 April 1877, No. 89, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/21; Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1878, Pt. 2,24 April 1878, No. 53, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/45; African Times, 28 January 1873, 76–77Google Scholar; African Times, 1 July 1876, 7Google Scholar; and Report (Tarkwa) for the Quarter Ended 31 May 1893, 26 May 1893, NAG/A, ADM 27/1/5.

39 See Report (Tarkwa) for the Quarter Ended 31 May 1893, 26 May 1893, NAG/A, ADM 27/1/5.

40 Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 104–05Google Scholar.

41 African Times, 1 July 1876, 7Google Scholar.

42 Dumett, , El Dorado, 86Google Scholar. Henry Eyre, who visited Wassa and wrote the Reports on Gold Coast mines (or the British government in 1889, stated that “the stool [chiefship of Angoo] is an important one, owing to the mining rents which attach to it.” See C.5620-24,5.

43 Dumett, , El Dorado, 86–87Google Scholar.

44 Ibid., 87.

45 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1876-77, 26 July 1877, No. 189, NAG/A ADM 1/2/21; Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1879-80, 21 January 1880, No 22, NAG/AADM, 1/2/23; Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to the Secretary of State, 1882, 24 June 1882, No. 262, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/27; and Proceedings of Legislative Council Meeting, Elmina Castle, 11 May 1881, NAG/A, ADM 14/1/3

46 Agbodeka, African Politics; and Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining in Ghana,” 105-07, 109–17Google Scholar.

47 Dumett, , El Dorado, 173, 175Google Scholar.

48 Western Echo (Cape Coast), 17-31 August 1887.

49 Sanford Freeling (Lt.-Governor December 1876-June 1877) and (Governor June 1877-May 1878); Lt.-Governor Charles Cameron Lees (May 1878 to June 1879); and Governor Herbert T. Ussher (June 1879-Dccember 1880). Others were W. Brandford Griffith (December 1880-March 1881; October 1882-December 1882; and April 1885-January 1886); Governor Sir Samuel Rowe (March 1881-May 1882 and December 1882-April 1884); and Act.Governor C.A. Moloney (May 1882-October 1882). See, for example, Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1877-79, 7 February 1879, No. 20, NAGA ADM 1/1/22. Although Governor W.A.G Young ruled from 29 April 1884 to April 1885, I have not come across any correspondence that connects him to the Enimil Kwao case.

50 Despatches on the Subject of Domestic Slavery and Introduction of Slaves by Ashantec Traders into the British Protectorate, Parliamentary Papers, 1874, C.1007; Further Correspondence Relating to the Abolition of Slavery on the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1875, C.1139; Further Correspondence Relating to the Abolition of Slavery on the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1875, C.1159; C.1402; and Report by Sir David Chalmers on the Effect of the Steps Which Have been Taken by the Colonial Government in Reference to the Abolition of Slavery Within the Protectorate, Parliamentary Papers, 1875, C.2148. For a fuller account, see, for example, Akurang-Parry, “Administration of the Abolition Laws.”

51 African Times, 1 October 1890, 149Google Scholar; and The Times (London), 1 September 1890; Correspondence Respecting the Slave Trade, Parliamentary Papers, 1889, C.6010; Correspondence Respecting the Slave Trade, Parliamentary Papers, 1890, C.6053; and Correspondence Respecting the Administration of the Laws Against Slavery in the Gold Coast Colony, Parliamentary Papers, 1891, C.6354; Akurang-Parry, “Administration of the Abolition Laws.”

52 Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887.

53 See a series of reports in the African Times from 1862 to 1890.

54 African Times, 1 July 1876, 7Google Scholar.

55 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

56 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1877-79, 7 February 1879, No, 20, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/22.

57 African Times, 1 November 1879, 129Google Scholar.

58 Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887.

59 African Times, 1 November 1879, 122Google Scholar. Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 82Google Scholar, disputed Enimil Kwao's claim on the grounds that the Wassa army was disorganized and had limited resources.

60 African Times, 1 November 1879, 122, 128–29Google Scholar.

61 C.1343, Straban to Carnarvon, 18 March 1875, Encl. 1 in No. 47. For this type of imprisonment for debt in the Gold Coast, sec Kwabena O. Akurang-Parry, “‘What is and What is not the Law:’ Imprisonment for Debt and the Institution of Pawnship in the Gold Coast, 1821-1899” in Toyin Falola and Paul E. Lovejoy, eds., Pawnship in Africa: Debt-Bondage in Historical Perspective, second edition, forthcoming.

62 C.1343, Strahan to Carnarvon, 18 March 1875, Encl. 1 in No. 47.

63 Ibid.

64 Ibid.

65 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar. I have not been able to ascertain whether it was the norm in the early colonial period (or people in the interior to sue for divorce at Cape Coast. According to Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 108Google Scholar, a decision of divorce was reached based on English law that no marriage had been contracted and that Amba N'kroma was Enimil Kwao's mistress and not his wife. For a fuller assessment of the role of Amba N'kroma, see Kwabena O. Akurang-Parry, “Making a Difference in Colonial Interventionism in Gold Mining in Wassa Fiase, Gold Coast (Ghana): The Social and Political Activism of Two Women” in Jaclyn Viskovatoff and Laurie Mercier, eds., Mining Women: Gender, Race and Global Capitalism, 1800-2000, forthcoming.

66 African Times, 1 November 1879, 122Google Scholar.

67 Ibid.

68 Ibid., 123; and Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76, 4 March 1876, No. 48, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/20. For the past two years my efforts to obtain transcripts of the trial from the Cape Coast Regional Archive have not been successful. Archivists at both the Accra and Cape Coast archives can no longer trace the file. Rosenblum, “Gold Mining,” offers an adequate account of the trial. Also the Gold Coast newspapers, African Times, Gold Coast Despatches, and the Parliamentary Papers offer plausible perspectives on the trial and the subsequent treatment of Enimil Kwao.

69 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123 and 128Google Scholar; Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76, 4 March 1876, No. 48, NAG/A, ADM, 1/2/20; and Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1877-79, 7 February 1879, No, 20, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/22. See also Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 107–09Google Scholar.

70 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1878, Pt. 2, 24 April 1878, No. 53, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/45.

71 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

72 Ibid.

73 Ibid., 122-23. What is not clear is whether Amba N'kroma went to Cape Coast with the Moloney delegation to report the case or did so afterwards.

74 Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 99Google Scholar. According to Rosenblum, Enimil Kwao had moved to Tarkwa in order to have a better access to the goldfields, moving his whole household with him. The scarcity of food in Tarkwa area prevented him from supplying his wives with food as “he was obliged to provide for them.”

75 Ibid., 83-85. Enimil Kwao was summoned to appear before the court because a suit had been brought against him by Quacoe Buafoo. Enimil Kwao had imposed a heavy fine on Buafoo for failing to attend his enstoolment ceremony. Buafoo was imprisoned pending the payment of the fine and was only released by Enimil Kwao through the intervention of the chiefs of Wassa Fiase. After his release Buafoo moved to Cape Coast and sued Enimil Kwao in the Judicial Assessor's Court.

76 Ibid., 100-07. The suit resulted from confrontations between the supporters of Enimil Kwao and Kwabena Angoo between March and August of 1875. Eventually, in August 1875 Kwabena Angoo was forced to flee from Tarkwa to Axim. Kwabena Angoo's suit included the allegation that Enimil Kwao had threatened to “kill [him] and causing five people to pursue him until lie was compelled to take refuge in the bush.”

77 C.4477, Thompson to Colonial Secretary, 23 December 1883, Encl. 8; C.4477, Turton to Dudley, 12 June 1883, Encl. 1 in No. 14; and C. 4477, Dudley to Assistant Colonial Secretary in Charge of Native Affairs, 23 July 1883, Encl. 2 in No. 14.

78 See, for example, Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1878, Pt. 2, 24 April 1878, No. S3, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/45; African Times, 1 November 1879, 129Google Scholar; and Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887.

79 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

80 Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 109Google Scholar.

81 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

82 Ibid.

83 Ibid.

84 Ibid., 128.

85 Ibid.

86 Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887.

87 Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 109–11Google Scholar.

88 Ibid., 116.

89 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1876-77, 16 July 1877, NAG/A ADM 1/2/21. For support for Enimil Kwao, see African Times, I July 1876, 7Google Scholar; and Western Echo 10-27 January 1887.

90 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary State, 1876-77, 20 June 1877, No. 163, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/21.

91 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1876-77, 16 July 1877, No. 176, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/21.

92 Although “steamers” were not available, Governor Freeling hoped “to be able to get Captain Moloney there [Wassa Fiase] soon in H.M.S. Princess which Commander Sullivnn has appointed to be stationed on this part of the coast.” See Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary State, 1876-77, 20 June 1877, No. 163, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/21.

93 Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 112Google Scholar.

94 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 15 January 1877, No. 26, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/21.

95 Dumett, , El Dorado, 174Google Scholar, ambiguously describes Kwamena Impira as a “man of inferior qualification.”

96 African Times, 1 July 1876, 7Google Scholar. For a fuller account see Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 122Google Scholar.

97 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1878, Pt. 2, 24 April 1878, No. 53, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/45. In the petition to the Secretary of State, the Wassa Fiases noted that Enimil Kwao was the hundredth king, a direct descendant of Geythnya Mansu, the first king of Wassa. See African Times, 28 January 1873, 76–77Google Scholar; and African Times, 1 July 1876, 7Google Scholar.

98 Dumett, , El Dorado, 174Google Scholar.

99 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1876-77, 5 April 1877, No. 89, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/21; Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76, 22 April 1876, No. 101, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/20; and Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76, 4 March 1876, No. 48, NAG/A, ADM, 1/2/20. For a fuller account of Adjuah Arduah's role, see Akurang-Parry, “Making a Difference in Colonial Interventionism.”

100 Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 114–15Google Scholar.

101 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1878, Pt. 2, 24 April 1878, No. 53, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/45.

102 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

103 Ibid. See also Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1877, 9 March 1877, No. 407, NAG/A ADM, 1/1/43.

104 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1877, 9 March 1877, No. 407, NAG/A ADM 1/1/43.

105 Ibid. Chalmers wrote the slave emancipation ordinance and was instrumental in the abolition of slavery in the Gold Coast. During the early phase of colonial rule, lie was considered the most competent legal authority in the Gold Coast. See C.1139, Strahan to Carnarvon, 19 September 1874, No. 5. He wrote a report on the effects of abolition on the Gold Coast. Sec C.2148.

106 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1877, 9 March 1877, No. 407, NAG/A ADM, 1/1/43; and Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1879 Pt. 2, 4 April 1879, No. 246, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/47.

107 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123, 126Google Scholar; and Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1879 Pt. 2, 4 April 1879, No. 246, NAG/A ADM 1/1/47.

108 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1880-81, 9 November 1880, No. 287, NAG/A ADM 1/2/24.

109 Ibid. and African Times, 1 November 1879, 124.

110 Western Echo, 17 August 1887.

111 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1882, Part 1, 18 September 1882, No. 807, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/57.

112 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1882, 13 November 1882, No. 518, NAG/A ADM 1/2/27. See also Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1875-76,4 March 1876, No. 48, NAG/A ADM 1/2/20.

113 Boahen, Adu, Ghana: Evolution and Change in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1975), 62Google Scholar.

114 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar. See also Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1878, Pt. 2, 24 April 1878, No. 53, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/45; and Western Echo, 14-28 February 1887.

115 According to Enimil Kwao he petitioned the Colonial Office and constantly sent letters seeking his release to governors. Sec African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

116 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1878, Pt. 2, 24 April 1878, No. 53, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/45; and African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

117 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

118 Ibid., 128.

119 Ibid., 129.

120 Western Echo, 7-13 December 1886. See also Western Echo, 14-18 February 1887; Western Echo, 10-27 January 1887; and Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887.

121 Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887. See also Western Echo, 14-28 February 1887.

122 See Straban to Carnarvon, 24 September 1874, No. 115 in Correspondence Relating to the Affairs of the Gold Coast, Parliamentary Papers, 1875, C.1140.

123 African Times, 1 July 1876, 7Google Scholar. The petition was submitted on behalf of Enimil Kwao by the royal family and seventeen chiefs of Wassa Fiase. The petition had “been drawn by the same hand that penned the Petition against the Anti-Slavery Proclamation.” The person who wrote the anti-abolition petitions was James Hutton Brew, the editor of the Gold Coast Times in Cape Coast: See African Times, 1 March 1875. For Brew's authorship of the anti-abolition petitions and its importance see Akurang-Parry, , “‘A Smattering of Education’ and Petitions as Sources: A Study of African Slaveholders' Responses to Abolition in the Gold Coast Colony, 1874-1875,” HA 27(2000), 39–60, 55Google Scholar.

124 African Times, 1 July 1876, 7Google Scholar.

125 Western Echo, 14-18 February 1887; Western Echo, 10-27 January 1887; and Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887.

126 Western Echo, 14-18 February 1887.

127 Ibid.

128 Agbodeka, , African Politics, 106Google Scholar.

129 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1877-79, 7 February 1879, No, 20, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/22.

130 Ibid.

131 Ibid.

132 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State Governor 1879, 4 April 1879, No. 246, NAG/A, ADM 1/1/47. Hicks-Beach further explained that if the colonial authorities realized that Enimil Kwao had paid the fine and served his prison term, they would have to furnish the Colonial Office with “strong reasons in proof of the danger that he would cause.”

133 African Times, 1 November 1879, 129Google Scholar.

134 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1880-81, 5 April 1880, No. 100, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/24.

135 As a result of the Elmina-Asante alliance during the exigencies of the Anglo-Dutch exchange of the forts and subsequent Asantc invasion of the coast in 1873, Kobina Edjen, the Chief of Elmina, was exiled to Sierra Leone in 1873. See Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of state to Governor, 1882, Pt. 1, 18 September 1882, NAG/A ADM 1/1/57; Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of State to Governor, 1882, Pt. 4, 23 December 1882, No. 8, NAG/A, ADM 1/158; Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1882, 22 July 1882, No. 332, NAG/A, ADM 1/2/27; and Western Echo, 28 November 1885.

136 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1882, 22 July 1882, No. 332, NAG/A ADM 1/1/27.

137 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary, 1882, 4 September 1882, No. 415, NAG/A ADM 1/2/27.

138 Gold Coast Despatches from Secretary of state to Governor, 1882, Pt. 4, 23 December 1882, No. 8, NAG/A ADM 1/1/58.

139 Gold Coast Despatches from Governor to Secretary of State, 1883, 29 November 1883, No. 413, NAG/A ADM 1/2/34. Agbodeka, , African Politics, 113–20Google Scholar, has convincingly argued that Wassa was one of the first regions that the NJO was implemented beginning from 1878, because of the opposition to British rule.

140 See, for example, C.4477, Derby to Young, 24 March 1884, No. 25.

141 Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887. See also Enimil Kwao's petition to the Gold Coast Colonial government and the Secretary of State for colonies, dated 10 February, 1887, Western Echo, 14-28 February 1887.

142 Western Echo, 17-31 August 1887; Western Echo, 10-27 January 1887.

143 African Times, 1 November 1879, 123Google Scholar.

144 Ibid., 129.

145 Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 115Google Scholar.

146 For his release see Agbodeka, , African Politics, 106Google Scholar; and Rosenblum, , “Gold Mining,” 114–15Google Scholar.

147 Ibid., 183-85, 290-98.

148 Ibid., 115.

149 Report (Tarkwa) for the Quarter Ended 31 May 1893, 26 May 1893, NAG/A, ADM 27/1/5

150 Ibid.