GHANA GAIN INDEPENDENCE FROM GREAT BRITAIN

•  On 6 March 1957, the Gold Coast (now known as Ghana) gained
  independence from Britain. Ghana became a member of the Commonwealth
  of Nations and was led to independence by Kwame Nkrumah who
  transformed the country into a republic, with himself as president for life.
•  Ghana formerly known as the Gold Coast had many natural resources
  categorized into two as minerals and forest resources.
• The mineral resources are gold and ivory, bauxite, diamond, and manganese,
  which enticed the Europeans. There are also food and cash crops. Many
  controversies arose among the European countries as to who should take
  charge of the Gold Coast due to its rich natural resources.
•  The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive. By 1471, they had
  reached the area that was to become the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast was so-
  named because it was an important source of gold. The Portuguese interest
  in trading for gold, ivory, and pepper increased, so in 1482 the Portuguese
  built their first permanent trading post on the western coast of present-day
  Ghana.
• By the later part of the 19th century the Dutch and the British were the only
  traders left and after the Dutch withdrew in 1874, Britain made the Gold
  Coast a protectorate, a British Crown Colony. During the previous few
  centuries parts of the area were controlled by British, Portuguese, and
  Scandinavian powers, with the British ultimately prevailing.
• In 1874, the British took control over parts of Gold coast although the
  Portuguese were the first to settle at Elmina in the Gold Coast in 1482. After
  the British control, Gold Coast was named the British Gold Coast.
• After the World War II, the British reduced its control over its colonies in
  Africa including the Gold Coast. The United Gold Coast convention
  pioneered the call for independence within the shortest possible time after
  the Gold Coast legislative election in 1947.
• Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was elected the leader of the Gold Coast
  government in 1952 after he won the Gold Coast legislative election in
  1951.Led by the big six, the Gold Coast declared its independence from the
  British on 6 March 1957. The Gold Coast was named Ghana.
• Nkrumah saw independent Ghana as a spearhead for the liberation of the rest
  of Africa from colonial rule and the establishment of a socialist African unity
  under his leadership. After the founding of a republic in 1960, the state
  became identified with a single political party (the CPP), with Nkrumah, as
  life president of both, taking ever more power for himself.

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