The Evolution of Pan The Evolution of Pan-Africanism and the Gold Africanism and the Gold Coast

357 Pages·2011·1.93 MB·English

People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
University of Oran
Faculty of Letters, Languages, and Arts
Department of Anglo-Saxon Languages
Section of English

Thesis submitted to the Department of Anglo-Saxon Languages in candidature for the Degree of
Doctorate in African Civilization
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Submitted by: Supervised by:
Aziz Mostefaoui Pr. Badra Lahouel

Jury:
President Belmekki Belkacem Maitre de Conférences –A– University of Oran
Rapporteur Lahouel Badra Professor University of Oran
Examiner Bouhadiba Zoulikha Maitre de Conférences –A– University of Oran
Examiner Bahous Abbas Professor University of Mostaganem
Examiner Bedjaoui Fewzia Maitre de Conférences –A– University of Sidi Bel Abbes
Examiner Borsali Fewzi Professor University of Adrar

Academic Year: 2010 – 2011

DEDICATION

To my wife and children …
… the brightest lights in the darkest nights.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am eternally indebted to my distinguished teacher and supervisor,
Professor Badra LAHOUEL, for her guidance, pieces of advice, patience and
encouragement throughout the preparation of this research.
The completion of this work would not have been possible without the help
and references provided by the Library of the American University in Cairo, so I
am greatly indebted to all the members of the staff who facilitated my task.
I am also immensely thankful to Professor Fewzi BORSALI, my teacher
and colleague, for providing me with inestimable archives and for his constant
moral support, valuable remarks, and instructive criticism.
My special thanks are due to the various scholars who taught me so much
about African history and widened my horizons through their various works, and
to all my friends, colleagues, and students who helped or supported me during
my research work.
Finally, I wish to express my deep gratitude to my wife for so generously
aiding and standing by me. May Allah bless her.
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ABSTRACT

This doctoral thesis deals with Pan-Africanism which emerged in the New
World (mainly the West Indies and the United States) and the Gold Coast
nationalism from their origins to the foundation of the Republic of Ghana in 1960.
It examines the historical evolution of the Pan-African movement which first
appeared as a concept during the 1900 London Conference organised by the
West Indian Henry Sylvester Williams but had its origins in the previous
centuries. The movement developed throughout the years, especially after the
First World War when the ‘Father of Pan-Africanism’, W. E. B. Du Bois, initiated
the Pan-African Congress movement and organised a series of congresses
which considerably contributed to the spread of Pan-African ideas among people
of African descent and continental Africans. Moreover, this study follows the
evolution of the Gold Coast nationalism through a sketch over the history of this
country from its discovery by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century, to the
establishment of the Colony, and ending with the achievement of independence
and the birth of the Republic of Ghana. This paper scrutinises the process
whereby the two movements (i.e. Pan-Africanism and the Gold Coast
nationalism) which developed separately at the beginning came into touch with
one another by the twentieth century, thereby establishing a bridge of
communication between continental Africans and those in the diaspora. After the
Second World War, the two movements underwent a radical change in their
strategies and methods of protest as they both demanded the independence of
all African countries from European colonial rule. At this time, African nationalist
leaders took over the leadership of Pan-Africanism from African Americans and
West Indians during the Manchester Congress in 1945. The main architect of this
change was the Gold Coast leader Kwame Nkrumah who made of his country a
centre of Pan-African propaganda by organising a series of regional and
continental Pan-African meetings, especially after independence in March 1957.
CONTENTS
- List of Acronyms ................................................................................................IV
- List of Maps .......................................................................................................VI
- List of Tables ....................................................................................................VII
- INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1
CHAPTER ONE: THE EMERGENCE OF PAN-AFRICANISM ............................9

I- An Introduction to Pan-Africanism ..............................................................10
1- A Review .......................................................................................................11
2- An Attempt at a Definition ..............................................................................14

II- The Historical Origins of Pan-Africanism ...................................................17
1- The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade .....................................................................19
2- The Middle Passage ......................................................................................31
3- The Slave Revolts in the New World ............................................................40

III- The Development of the Pan-African Ideology .........................................48
1- Nineteenth-Century Pan-African Forerunners ...............................................50
2- The Main Pan-African Tendencies in the Early Twentieth Century ...............67
3- The Inter-War Pan-African Congresses ........................................................82

CHAPTER TWO: THE GOLD COAST FROM DISCOVERY TO COLONISATION
(15th C.-19th C.) .....................................................................91

I- A Historical Background to the Gold Coast ................................................93
1- The Early Portuguese Voyages to the Gold Coast .........................................93
2- European Scramble for the Gold Coast ..........................................................99
I
II- The Growth of British Jurisdiction and Rule in the Gold Coast .............110
1- British Policy in the Gold Coast until 1850 ...................................................111
2- Extension of British Influence and the Ashanti Threat .................................121
3- From Non-Expansion to Colonisation ..........................................................127

III- Nineteenth-Century Roots of the Gold Coast Nationalism ....................134
1- King Aggery and the British Jurisdiction (1865-1866) .................................134
2- The Fanti Confederation Movement (1868-1874) .......................................141
3- The British Land Legislation and the Formation of the Aborigines’ Rights
Protection Society (1894-1898) ...................................................................150

CHAPTER THREE: THE CONCEPTION OF PAN-AFRICANISM AND THE
GOLD COAST NATIONALISM (1900-1939) ...............162

I- Pan-African Trends in the Gold Coast .......................................................164
1- The Back-to-Africa Movements (19th and Early 20th C.) .............................166
2- The Pan-African Meetings and the Gold Coast Representation
(1900-1927) .................................................................................................185
3- The Attitude of the Gold Coast Nationalists to New World Pan-
Africanism ....................................................................................................191

II- The Gold Coast Nationalist Movement ....................................................196
1- The Decline of the A.R.P.S. and the Emergence of the N.C.B.W.A.
(1900-1930) .................................................................................................199
2- The British Authorities’ Attitude to the N.C.B.W.A. ......................................215

III- The Impact of the Italian Invasion of Ethiopia on the Gold Coast
Nationalism and Pan-Africanism (1935-1939) ..............................................226
1- The Gold Coasters’ Reaction to the Italo-Ethiopian Conflict .......................226
2- The Impact of the Italo-Ethiopian Conflict on Pan-Africanism .....................233

II
CHAPTER FOUR: PAN-AFRICANISM AND THE GOLD COAST
NATIONALISM (1939-1960) ....................................240

I- The Gold Coast and the Second World War .............................................243
1- The Involvement of the Gold Coast in W.W.II .............................................244
2- The Political Impact of W.W.II on the Gold Coasters ..................................248
3- The Impact of W.W.II on the Gold Coast Economy .....................................254

II- The Growth of Political Protest in the Gold Coast ..................................260
1- The Growth of Discontent after W.W.II and the Foundation of the United Gold
Coast Convention ........................................................................................261
2- The Riots of 1948 and their Consequences ................................................273

III- Kwame Nkrumah: The Rise of a Pan-African and Nationalist
Messiah .......................................................................280
1- Nkrumah’s Formative Years to 1945 ...........................................................281
2- Nkrumah and the Pan-African Experience in Britain (1945-1947) ...............289
3- The Road to Independence and the ‘Africanization’ of Pan-Africanism
(1947-1960) .................................................................................................301

- CONCLUSION ................................................................................................317

- BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................324
III
List of Acronyms

- A.C.S.: American Colonization Society
- A.M.E.Z.: African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
- A.N.C.: African National Congress
- A.R.P.S.: Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society
- A.S.A.: African Students’ Association
- A.S.S.: African Students’ Service
- C.A.A.: Council on African Affairs
- C.P.P. Convention People’s Party
- C.S.S.V.: Cocoa Swollen-Shoot Virus
- C.Y.O.: Committee on Youth Organisation
- G.C.R.: Gold Coast Regiment
- G.C.Y.C.M.: Gold Coast Youth Conference Movement
- I.A.F.A.: International African Friends of Abyssinia
- I.A.S.B.: International African Service Bureau
- I.N.C.: Indian National Congress
- M.A.P.: Moslem Association Party
- N.A.A.C.P.: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- N.A.C.W.: National Association of Colored Women
- N.C.B.W.A.: National Congress of British West Africa
- N.L.M.: National Liberation Movement
- N.N.C.: National Negro Committee
- N.P.P.: Northern People’s Party
- P.A.F.: Pan-African Federation
IV
- R.A.F.: Royal Air Force
- R.W.A.F.F.: Royal West African Frontier Force
- T.C.: Togoland Congress
- U.A.C.: United Africa Company
- U.G.C.C.: United Gold Coast Convention
- U.N.: United Nations
- U.N.I.A.: Universal Negro Improvement Association
- W.A.C.C.B.: West African Cocoa Control Board
- W.A.P.C.B.: West African Produce Control Board
- W.A.N.S.: West African National Secretariat
- W.A.S.U.: West African Students’ Union
- W.A.Y.L.: West African Youth League
- W.W.I: First World War
- W.W.II: Second World War
V