BRIGHT STAR CHRISTIAN HIGH SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADE 8 TERM 3 HISTORY NOTES AND

ACTIVITIES

BRIGHT STAR CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL

SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADE 8
TERM 3 HISTORY NOTES AND ACTIVITIES
TOPIC: THE SCRAMBLE OF AFRICA.

1. THE ASHANTI KINGDOM.

1.1. The coast of West Africa before the arrival of Europeans.
 Before European colonisation, the West African region was part of a
thriving trade network.
 West Africans produced and traded millet, sorghum, wheat, kola nuts,
livestock, ivory, ostrich feathers, cloth and gold.

Source A: This map shows the kingdoms on the west coast of Africa before
European colonisation. It also shows the places where gold mines are found.
 West Africans exchanged their goods for goods from traders in the
Sahara Desert, Europe and the Middle East.
 They imported salt, copper, brass, silver, tin, lead, tobacco, dates, textiles
and clothes made from wool, silk, velvet or satin, books, writing paper,

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BRIGHT STAR CHRISTIAN HIGH SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADE 8 TERM 3 HISTORY NOTES AND
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cowrie shells, tea, coffee, sugar, spices, jewellery, perfumes, bracelets,

mirrors, carpets and glass beads.
1.1.1. Gold in West Africa.
 Africa has produced two-thirds of all gold ever mined, since the
beginning of time.
 Between the 11th and the 17th centuries, West Africa was the leading
supplier of gold in the world.

2. The Ashanti and their early contact with European traders and
explorers
2.1. Gold and the Ashanti kingdom of West Africa

Gold and the Ashanti kingdom of West Africa

By the 16th and 17th centuries,
Akan territory was divided
into dozens of independent
kingdoms. By the early 18th
century, one of the Akan
kingdoms, the Ashanti (also
called the Asante) controlled
many of the other kingdoms in
the area. It also controlled the
trade routes to the coast and
some of the richest gold mines
in Africa.
The early European explorers
and traders were so astonished
by the richness of the gold in
the area, that they called it the
Gold Coast.
This is a modern photograph
of the Queen Mother. She is
wearing glasses made of gold.
They are not to protect her from
the sun. They are to prevent her
subjects from looking her in
the eye! She is a very important
person in Ashanti culture.
The King of the Ashanti is called an ‘Asantehene’. The Queen Mother, the
‘Asantewaa’, is a symbol of the wealth that lay in the region. The Queen Mother
wore so much gold jewellery that she needed two people to carry her hands.
Before the Europeans arrived with spectacles, the Queen Mother would wear
a headpiece with beads to cover her eyes so that her subjects could not look
her directly in the eye. Akan goldsmiths made glasses of gold to serve the same

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purpose as the beads, but also to show the Europeans that she was powerful as
her
glasses were made of gold and not of metal and glass!

2.2. Slaves and the Akan states.

 in the Akan states.

 Their interest in the area later expanded to include tens of
thousands of slaves.
 Portuguese slave traders set up a base at Elmina on the
coast of the Akan states.
 Africans were kidnapped by fellow Africans who would
march their captives to the coast where they would sell
them to European slave traders at Elmina.
 The slaves were kept in prisons called barracoons at
Elmina Castle where they waited before they were shipped
across the Atlantic Ocean.
 As you learnt in Topic 1, from 1451 to 1870, about twelve
million West Africans were taken to America as slaves as
part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Figure 1 Source C: This is a drawing of a slave trader. Guns traded from Europe allowed the rise of the powerful Akan slave
trading kingdom. Ashanti slave traders and rulers grew rich on the slave trade.

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Figure 2 Source D: The Elmina Castle was built by Portuguese traders in 1482. The British took it over when

they became more powerful at sea. Today it is a World Heritage Site in independent Ghana

 We should not be surprised that African traders and rulers

willingly took part in the supply of slaves.
 Human beings, whatever their skin colour, are easily
motivated by individual greed and promises of wealth.
 In the early years, Ashanti traders got horses and guns in
exchange for people.
 Later they began to exchange cloth, metal items,
copperware and brassware.
 Manufactured goods like bracelets, water jugs, shaving
bowls, barber’s basins, chamber pots, urinals and kettles
were in great demand.

3. The British and the colonisation of the Gold Coast

3.1. The myth of the Golden Stool
 The Golden Stool is a sacred symbol of Ashanti unity
and nationhood. The following story is important
because it explains the myth about the Golden Stool.
 A myth elaborate stories which explain things
 The Golden Stool motivated the Ashanti during their
resistance against British colonialism.
 In 1701, during the reign of Asantehene Osei Tutu, a
priest told the king that the Supreme God had told

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him to call an object from heaven that contained the

spirit of the nation.
 According to this Ashanti myth, a Golden Stool
descended from the skies
 which contained the soul of the Ashanti people. No
one could be a legitimate.
 legitimate means in accordance with law
 ruler without the stool. A new king was lowered and
raised over the Golden Stool without touching it.
 Not even the Asantehene was allowed to sit on the
Golden Stool.
 The stool was not allowed to touch the ground but
was placed on its own chair.

Figure 3 This is the Golden Stool, a magni_cent stool carved out of wood and decorated with gold..

According to the legend, the Ashanti were an ordinary people until their king,

Osei Tutu, made them into a great nation. The story is that an ordinary clansman,

Anotchi, lived in a neighbouring kingdom. He was so experienced in medicine and

magic that when he _ed to the Ashanti, he said that Nyame, the Supreme God, had

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sent him to make the Ashanti a great people.

3.2. The British colonisers and the War of the Golden Stool.
 Between 1824 and 1901 the British fought four wars against the Ashanti.
 The Ashanti defeated the British Empire in the first three wars but, in the
end, the Ashanti kingdom became part of the British colony called the
Gold Coast.
 In 1896 the British occupied the Ashanti capital, Kumasi. They sent King
Prempeh and several chiefs and elders into exile.
 Prempeh’s followers hid the Golden Stool in a secret place to prevent it
from falling into British hands.

Figure 4 King Prempeh I was captured by the British in 1896 and exiled. This is

a photograph of King Prempeh I and his parents and servants while they were

political prisoners.

 Major Hodgson was appointed as the British Governor in 1898.

 He wanted to defeat the Ashanti once and for all. At a meeting in 1900, he
demanded that the Ashanti leaders hand over the Golden Stool so that he could sit
on it.
 The Ashanti leaders listened in silence.
 This request led to a secret meeting of the remaining members of the Ashanti
government at Kumasi, to discuss how to organise for the return of their king.
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 There was a disagreement among those present on how to go about this.

 Yaa Asantewaa, the Queen Mother, persuaded the Ashanti to right back.
 The Ashanti and the British fought battles in what became known as the ‘War of the
Golden Stool’.
 The British also recruited some local groups that were enemies of the Ashanti._
 The British _finally defeated the Ashanti in 1902.
 Asantewaa and other Ashanti leaders were sent into exile to join Prempeh I.
 The British took over the Ashanti kingdom and it became part of the British colony of
the Gold Coast.

4. Results of colonisation for Ashanti kingdom and Britain

4.1. Ashanti lost many golden treasures
 After the defeat of the Ashanti, the British soldiers collected all the gold
treasures from the palace.
 Many of these items are displayed in British museums today.

4.1.1. The Ashanti people lost their independence.

 The Ashanti people were not given political rights in the Gold Coast.
 Power was taken away from the legitimate Ashanti leaders.
 People were forced to leave their own land and onto farms or into
factories where they worked for low pay in order to make the British
richer.
 The Ashanti were forced to work for wages and to pay taxes to the British
colonial government.
 Very little money was spent on things like healthcare and education.

4.2. The British grew richer

 The British took as much as possible from the Gold Coast with
as little cost as possible to themselves.
 They spent money on things that would improve their ability to
remove wealth and natural resources from the Gold Coast.
 They built railways and roads, but only to be able to get the
resources that they wanted as quickly as possible to the
harbours where they could be shipped to Europe.
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BRIGHT STAR CHRISTIAN HIGH SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADE 8 TERM 3 HISTORY NOTES AND
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Activity 1 Date: __________________

Topic: CASE STUDY ASHANTI KINGDOM.

1. Study the map of the west Coast of Africa Before the arrival of
Europeans and answer the following questions

1.1. Why were Europeans traders so interested in trading with the

Akan people? (1)

1.2. How did the traders indirectly help to form the Ashanti Kingdom?
(1)

1.3. What was the importance of golden stool to the Ashanti? (1)

1.4. Explain why Tutu was a popular King? (1)

2. Study the extract on Ashanti Kingdom below and use your own
knowledge to answer the following questions

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There is little information on other early European visitors, though it is

likely that there had been occasional visits during the eighteenth
century, probably mainly from the Dutch-held fort at Elmina. A Dutch
envoy, W. Huydecoper, had been in Kumase from May 1816 to April
1817, just before the arrival of T. Bowdich
who – as part of a British [Link] the end of the 17th century a
number of Akan groups become united as the Ashanti. For the next
200 years their power and prosperity grew until they controlled a large
empire. Kings of the Ashanti were called Asantehene. Osei tutu
became the first Asantehene

2.1. Why did the Ashanti shift to slave trading? (2)

2.2. Name THREE things that attracted Europeans to the West coast of
Africa (3)

2.3. Why the Queen mother was very important? Give TWO reasons.
(2)

2.4. Give evidence that the Ashanti people were so skillful Goldsmith
(1)

Activity 3 Date: ________________

Topic: CASE STUDY: THE ASHANTI KINGDOM
THE ASHANTI AND THEIR EARLY CONTACT WITH EUROPEAN TRADERS AND
EXPLORERS
Read Source A and use your own knowledge to answer the questions that
follow Source A

ASHANTI EMPIRE/ ASANTE KINGDOM (18TH TO LATE 19TH CENTURY)

The Ashanti Empire was a pre-colonial West African state that emerged in
the 17th century in what is now Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante were an
ethnic subgroup of the Akan-speaking people, and were composed of small
chiefdoms.

The Ashanti established their state around Kumasi in the late 1600s, shortly

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after their first encounter with Europeans. In some ways the Empire grew
out of the wars and dislocations caused by Europeans who sought the
famous gold deposits which gave this region its name, the Gold Coast.
During this era the Portuguese were the most active Europeans in West
Africa. They made Ashanti a significant trading partner, providing wealth
and weapons
which allowed the small state to grow stronger than its neighbors.
Nonetheless when the 18th Century began Ashanti was simply one of Akan-
speaking Portuguese trading partners in the region.

That situation changed when Osei Tutu, the Asantehene (paramount chief)
of Ashanti from 1701 to 1717, and his priest Komfo Anokye, unified the
independent chiefdoms into the most powerful political and military state
in the coastal region. The Asantehene organized the Asante union, an
alliance of Akan-speaking people who were now loyal to his central
authority. The Asantehene made Kumasi the capital of the new empire. He
also created a constitution, reorganized and centralized the military, and
created a new cultural festival, Odwira, which symbolized the new union.
Most importantly, he created the Golden Stool, which he argued
represented the ancestors of all the Ashanti. Upon that Stool Osei Tutu
legitimized his rule and that of the royal dynasty that followed him.

Gold was the major product of the Ashanti Empire. Osei Tutu made the gold
mines royal possessions. He also made gold dust the circulating currency in
the empire. Gold dust was frequently accumulated by Asante citizens,
particularly by the evolving wealthy merchant class. However even
relatively poor subjects used gold dust as ornamentation on their clothing
and other possessions. Larger gold ornaments owned by the royal family
and the wealthy were far more valuable. Periodically they were melted
down and fashioned into new patterns of display in jewelry and statuary
.
If the early Ashanti Empire economy depended on the gold trade in the
1700s, by the early 1800s it had become a major exporter of enslaved
people. The slave trade was originally focused north with captives going to
Mande
and Hausa traders who exchanged them for goods from North Africa and
indirectly from Europe. By 1800, the trade had shifted to the south as the
Ashanti sought to meet the growing demand of the British, Dutch, and
French for captives. In exchange, the Ashanti received luxury items and
some manufactured goods including most importantly firearms.

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The consequence of this trade for the Ashanti and their neighbors was
horrendous. From 1790 until 1896, the Ashanti Empire was in a perpetual
state of war involving expansion or defense of its domain. Most of these
wars afforded the opportunity to acquire more slaves for trade. The
constant warfare also weakened the Empire against the British who
eventually became their main adversary. Between 1823 and 1873, the
Ashanti Empire resisted British encroachment on their territory. By 1874,
however, British forces successfully invaded the Empire and briefly
captured Kumasi. The Ashanti rebelled against British rule and the Empire
was again conquered in 1896. After yet another uprising in 1900, the British
deposed and exiled the Asantehene and annexed the Empire into their
Gold Coast colony in 1902.

1.1. Who were the Ashanti people and where did they originate? (2)
1.2. When did the Ashanti first encounter European traders and explorers?
(1)
1.3. Which European countries were involved in early trade with the Ashanti?
(3)
1.4. How did the Ashanti benefit from trade with European traders in the
early periods? (2)
1.5. What were some of the challenges the Ashanti faced during early
interactions with European traders? (2)
1.6. Analyse the impact of European trade and influence on Ashanti political
and social structures. (2)
1.7. How did early contact with European traders shape the Ashanti
perception of the outside world? (2)

Activity 4 Date: ____________

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Topic: THE ASHANTI KINGDOM

THE BRITISH AND THE COLONISATION OF THE GOLD COAST

Read Source 12A and use your own knowledge to answer the questions that
follow

Source 12A
This source shows how the Ashanti resisted British attempts to colonise the
Gold Coast. It is taken from General History of Africa, VII Africa under colonial
Domination 1880–1935, edited by A Boahen, Paris: UNESCO.

Nowhere in Africa had there been a longer tradition of confrontation

between Africans and Europeans than in the Gold Coast between the Ashanti
and the British. This started in the 1760s and culminated in the military
engagement in 1824 in which the Ashanti forces defeated the British forces
and their allies and killed their commander, Sir Charles MacCarthy, the then
governor of the Gold Coast. Two years later, the British revenged this defeat
at the Battle of Dodowa. In 1850 and 1863, war was narrowly averted but,
between 1869 and 1872, the Ashanti virtually attacked and occupied all the
southern and coastal areas of the Gold Coast. To beat back the Ashanti, the
British government launched one of the best-organised campaigns of the
period under the command of one of the most famous British officers,
Governor Garnet Wolseley.
Armed with the latest weapons, this army succeeded in pushing the Ashanti
army to across the Pra River

… This decisive defeat of the Ashanti by the British in 1874 had very far-
reaching consequences and was to influence, to a great extent, the reactions
of the period 1880– 1900. The first obvious effect was the disintegration of
the Ashanti Empire. By the Treaty of Fomena, the Ashanti recognised the
independence of all the vassal states south of the Pra River.

1.1. In which year did the Ashante defeat the British? (1)

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1.2. In which battle did the British defeat the Ashante? (1)
1.3. Name the leader of the British during the Ashante defeat. (1)
1.4. What advantage did the British have over the Ashante forces? (1)
1.5. What were the primary economic interests of the British on the Gold
Coast? (2)
1.6. Mention the TWO results of the British colonisation of the Gold Coast (2)
1.7. Using this source and your own knowledge, write a paragraph of about
eight lines to explain how the Gold Coast resisted British presence. (8)
1.8. Explain how the defeat of the Ashante led to the downfall of the Gold
[Link] TWO results. (2)
1.9. Explain what the treaty of Fomena was. (1)

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