Timeline of European Imperialism in Africa and British Control in Gold Coast/Ghana

15th Century

The term 'Initial European Contact' refers to the period when European traders, primarily led by the Portuguese, established contact with the various peoples along the Atlantic coast of Africa, notably including the Gold Coast, primarily for trading in gold and other commodities.

16th - 18th Centuries

The 'Growth of Contact and the Slave Trade' highlights the establishment of European trading posts along the Gold Coast and other coastal regions of West Africa, which were fundamentally aimed at the trade of gold, ivory, and the increasing enslavement of African peoples during this period.

1807

The 'British Abolition of the Slave Trade' indicates the year when Great Britain officially abolished the transatlantic slave trade, though this abhorrent practice continued with other nations until around the late 1880s.

19th Century

The term 'Asante Empire' denotes a formidable West African state that had significant control over much of the Gold Coast throughout the 19th century, which led to numerous conflicts with British forces aiming for colonization.

1874

The 'Establishment of Gold Coast Colony' refers to the year following the Second Asante War (1873-74), when the British formally established the Gold Coast Colony, significantly curtailing the power of the Asante to inland areas.

1884-1885

The 'Berlin Conference' describes the period when various European powers convened to divide much of Africa into colonial territories without any consideration or consent from the African people themselves.

1896

The 'Fourth Asante War and Asante Protectorate' refers to the year when British forces occupied the Asante capital, Kumasi, and subsequently rendered it a protectorate under the British crown.

1902

The term 'Annexation of Asante' signifies the year when the British formally annexed the Asante territory after suppressing an Asante rebellion, placing it under the authority of the colonial governor of the Gold Coast.

1919

The 'Togoland Mandate' refers to the year when the former German colony of Togoland was divided between French and British control as a result of decisions made after World War I.

1960

The 'Year of Africa' is labeled as such due to the fact that seventeen additional African nations became independent from European colonial rule within this year alone.

1957

The term 'Ghana’s Independence' marks the historical moment when the Gold Coast achieved independence from British rule on March 6, 1957, thereby becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from a European power, at which point it was renamed Ghana.