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125-556: The GTUC as a central co-ordinating body for 14 union groups in 1945. The unions were registered under the Trade Union Ordinance of 1941. In 1954, the union proposed that the local unions be amalgamated along industrial groupings to make the union strong. The proposal was approved in 1955. The union had 24 member unions in 1958 and was regulated by the Industrial Relations Act 56. The first elections of

250-571: A general strike to begin on 8 January 1950. The strike quickly led to violence, and Nkrumah and other CPP leaders were arrested on 22 January, and the Evening News was banned. Nkrumah was sentenced to a total of three years in prison, and he was incarcerated with common criminals in Accra's Fort James . Nkrumah's assistant, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah , ran the CPP in his absence; the imprisoned leader

375-491: A historically black college in Chester County, Pennsylvania , west of Philadelphia , and he advised Nkrumah to enroll there. Nkrumah, who had failed the entrance examination for London University , gained funds for the trip and his education from relatives. He travelled by way of Britain , where he learned, to his outrage, of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia , one of the few independent African nations. He arrived in

500-436: A meta-analysis of 18 African countries found that a third of them experienced increased economic growth post-independence. Scholars including Dellal (2013), Miraftab (2012) and Bamgbose (2011) have argued that Africa's linguistic diversity has been eroded. Language has been used by western colonial powers to divide territories and create new identities, which have led to conflicts and tensions between African nations. In

625-587: A "reasonable majority" took the CPP's position, Britain would set a date for independence. The results of the July 1956 election were almost identical to those from four years before, and on 3 August the assembly voted for independence under the name Nkrumah had proposed in April, Ghana . In September, the Colonial Office announced independence day would be 6 March 1957. The opposition was not satisfied with

750-644: A Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology in 1939. Lincoln then appointed him an assistant lecturer in philosophy. He began to receive invitations to be a guest preacher in Presbyterian churches in Philadelphia and New York. In 1939, Nkrumah enrolled at Lincoln's seminary and at the Ivy League institution, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and in 1942, he was initiated into

875-572: A century. Ferhat Abbas and Messali Hadj 's movements marked the period between the two wars, but both sides radicalised after the Second World War. In 1945, the Sétif massacre was carried out by the French army. The Algerian War started in 1954. Atrocities characterized both sides , and the number killed became highly controversial estimates that were made for propaganda purposes. Algeria

1000-523: A crop, were being destroyed by the colonial authorities. There were about 63,000 World War II veterans in the Gold Coast, many of whom had trouble obtaining employment and felt the colonial government was doing nothing to address their grievances. Nkrumah and Danquah addressed a meeting of the Ex-Service men's Union in Accra on 20 February 1948, which was made in advance of a planned march to present

1125-486: A deeper political awareness and the expectation of greater respect and self-determination, which went largely unfulfilled. Because the victorious allied powers had no intention of withdrawing from their colonial holdings at the end of the war, and would instead need to rely on the resources and manpower of their African colonies during postwar reconstruction in Europe, the colonial powers downplayed Africans' contributions to

1250-595: A federal, rather than a unitary government for an independent Gold Coast, and for an upper house of parliament where chiefs and other traditional leaders could act as a counter to the CPP majority in the assembly. They drew considerable support in the Northern Territory and among the chiefs in Ashanti, who petitioned the British queen, Elizabeth II , asking for a Royal Commission into what form of government

1375-579: A full member of the Commonwealth of Nations with effect from 6 March. Ghana became independent on 6 March 1957 as the Dominion of Ghana . As the first of Britain's African colonies to gain majority-rule independence, the celebrations in Accra were the focus of world attention; over 100 reporters and photographers covered the events. United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent congratulations and his vice president, Richard Nixon , to represent

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1500-606: A government. Nkrumah had stolen Arden-Clarke's secretary Erica Powell after she was dismissed and sent home for getting too close to Nkrumah. Powell returned to Ghana in January 1955 to be Nkrumah's private secretary, a position she held for ten years. Powell was very close to him and during their time together she largely wrote Nkrumah's (auto)biography, although this was not admitted until much later. Nkrumah faced several challenges as he assumed office. He had never served in government, and needed to learn that art. The Gold Coast

1625-647: A majority on the Legislative Council for the first time. Seen as a major step towards self-government, the new arrangement prompted the colony's first true political party, founded in August 1947, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). The UGCC sought self-government as quickly as possible. Since the leading members were all successful professionals, they needed to pay someone to run the party, and their choice fell on Nkrumah at

1750-479: A monument to the new nation, Nkrumah opened Black Star Square near Osu Castle in the coastal district of Osu, Accra . This square would be used for national symbolism and mass patriotic rallies. Under Nkrumah's leadership, Ghana adopted some social democratic policies and practices. Nkrumah created a welfare system, started various community programs, and established schools. Gold Coast Decolonisation of Africa The decolonisation of Africa

1875-481: A nationwide campaign organization, using vans with loudspeakers to blare the party's message. The UGCC failed to set up a nationwide structure, and proved unable to take advantage of the fact that many of its opponents were in prison. In the February 1951 legislative election , the first general election to be held under universal franchise in colonial Africa, the CPP was elected in a landslide. The CPP secured 34 of

2000-535: A new bill that had just been enacted, which allowed minor chiefs to appeal to the government in Accra, bypassing traditional chiefly authority. The British were unwilling to leave unresolved the fundamental question as to how an independent Gold Coast should be governed, and in June 1956, the Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox-Boyd announced that there would be another general election in the Gold Coast, and if

2125-407: A petition to the governor. When the march took place on 28 February, three veterans were killed by police gunfire, prompting the 1948 Accra riots , which spread throughout the country. According to Nkrumah's biographer, David Birmingham, "West Africa's erstwhile "model colony" witnessed a riot and business premises were looted. The African Revolution had begun." The colonial government assumed that

2250-625: A possible communist. Nkrumah was determined to go to London, wanting to continue his education there now that the Second World War had ended. James, in a 1945 letter introducing Nkrumah to Trinidad-born George Padmore in London, wrote: "This young man is coming to you. He is not very bright, but nevertheless do what you can for him because he's determined to throw Europeans out of Africa." Nkrumah returned to London in May 1945 and enrolled at

2375-528: A proposal for the promotion of fundamental human rights. Beginning in April 1949, there was considerable pressure on Nkrumah from his supporters to leave the UGCC and form his own party. On 12 June 1949, he announced the formation of the Convention People's Party (CPP), with the word "convention" chosen, according to Nkrumah, "to carry the masses with us". There were attempts to heal the breach with

2500-690: A relative but later his parents named him as Francis Kwame Ngolomah. He progressed through the ten-year elementary programme in eight years. In 1925, he was a student-teacher in the school and was baptized into the Catholic faith. While at the school, he was noticed by the Reverend Alec Garden Fraser , principal of the Government Training College (soon to become Achimota School ) in the Gold Coast's capital, Accra . Fraser arranged for Nkrumah to train as

2625-625: A result of their fight for independence. Historian James Meriweather argues that American policy towards Africa was characterized by a middle road approach, which supported African independence but also reassured European colonial powers that their holdings would remain intact. Washington wanted the right type of African groups to lead newly independent states, in other words communist and not especially democratic. Meriweather argues that nongovernmental organizations influenced American policy towards Africa. They pressured state governments and private institutions to disinvest from African nations not ruled by

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2750-469: A strategy for supplanting colonialism with African socialism . They agreed to pursue a federal United States of Africa, with interlocking regional organizations, governing through separate states of limited sovereignty. They planned to pursue a new African culture without tribalism , democratic within a socialist system, synthesizing traditional aspects with modern thinking, and for this to be achieved by non-violent means if possible. Among those who attended

2875-518: A student in the United States , he was known as Francis Nwia Kofi Nkrumah, Kofi being the name given to males born on Fridays. He later changed his name to Kwame Nkrumah in 1945 in the UK , preferring the name "Kwame". According to Ebenezer Obiri Addo in his study of the future president, the name "Nkrumah", a name traditionally given to a ninth child, indicates that Kwame probably held that place in

3000-416: A teacher at his school. Here, Columbia -educated deputy headmaster Kwegyir Aggrey exposed him to the ideas of Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois . Aggrey, Fraser, and others at Achimota thought that there should be close co-operation between the races in governing the Gold Coast, but Nkrumah, echoing Garvey, soon came to believe that only when the black race governed itself could there be harmony between

3125-540: A vital part of Kwame Nkrumah's American education. He was going to a university – the university of the Harlem Streets. This was no ordinary time and these street speakers were no ordinary men  ...The streets of Harlem were open forums, presided over [by] master speakers like Arthur Reed and his protege Ira Kemp. The young Carlos Cook [ sic ], founder of the Garvey oriented African Pioneer Movement

3250-472: A work place. Various local groups which share common objectives form a national group - a local group. The local union upon formally registering with the TUC is admitted as a member of the group. The union's functions include: In 2007, the member strength of the union was about 350,000 members, which had grown to 479,270 by 2018. As of that date, the following unions were affiliated: The federation affiliated to

3375-733: A year. When he arrived in New York in October 1935, he traveled to Pennsylvania, where he enrolled despite lacking the funds for the full semester . He soon won a scholarship that provided for his tuition at Lincoln University. He remained short of funds through his time in the US. To make ends meet, he did menial jobs on roles such as a wholesaler of fish and poultries, cleaner, dishwasher and others. On Sundays, he visited black Presbyterian churches in Philadelphia and in New York. Nkrumah completed

3500-912: Is now known as the Cape Coast Castle . The Colony of Liberia, later the Commonwealth of Liberia, was a private colony of the American Colonization Society (ACS) beginning in 1822. It became an independent nation—the Republic of Liberia —after declaring independence in 1847. Colonialism in the colonial era, mostly refers to Western European countries' colonisation of lands in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The main European countries active in this form of colonization included Spain , Portugal , France ,

3625-613: The Françafrique had replaced formal direct rule. They argued that while de Gaulle was granting independence, on one hand, he was creating new ties with the help of Jacques Foccart , his counsellor for African matters. Foccart supported in particular the Nigerian Civil War during the late 1960s. Robert Aldrich argues that with Algerian independence in 1962, it appeared that the Empire practically had come to an end, as

3750-728: The Atlantic Charter , which in part stipulated that they would, "respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them." This agreement became the post-WWII stepping stone toward independence as nationalism grew throughout Africa. Consumed by post-war debt, European powers could no longer afford to maintain control of their African colonies. This allowed African nationalists to negotiate decolonisation very quickly and with minimal casualties. Some territories, however, saw large death tolls as

3875-631: The French Community . Only Guinea refused by referendum to take part in the new colonial organisation. However, the French Community dissolved itself amid the Algerian War; almost all of the other African colonies were granted independence in 1960, following local referendums. Some colonies chose instead to remain part of France, under the status of overseas départements (territories) . Critics of neocolonialism claimed that

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4000-578: The Ghana National College . This among other activities, led UGCC committee members to accuse him of acting in the party's name without authority. Fearing he would harm them more outside the party than within, they agreed to make him honorary treasurer. Nkrumah's popularity, already large, was increased with his founding of the Accra Evening News , which was not a party organ but was owned by Nkrumah and others. He also founded

4125-718: The Gold Coast (present Ghana ) from 22 April 1650 to 20 April 1663, when Fort Carlsborg and the capital Fort Christiansborg were seized by Denmark. In 1652, the Swedes took Cape Coast (in modern Ghana) which had previously been under the control of the Dutch and before that the Portuguese . Cape Coast was centered on the Carolusburg Castle which was built in 1653 and named after King Charles X Gustav of Sweden but

4250-781: The Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained independence from Britain . He was then the first Prime Minister and then the President of Ghana , from 1957 until 1966. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism , Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962. After twelve years abroad pursuing higher education, developing his political philosophy , and organizing with other diasporic pan-Africanists, Nkrumah returned to

4375-725: The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in the early 1950s, and in 1957, it hosted the founding conference of the ICFTU African Regional Organisation . The country's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement , and the ICFTU's opposition to the TUC spending money on a new Trades Hall building, led the TUC to resign from the ICFTU in 1959. It retained informal links with some ICFTU affiliates, and rejoined

4500-569: The Ivory Coast , he arrived in the Gold Coast where he briefly stayed and reunited with his mother in Tarkwa . He began work at the party's headquarters in Saltpond on 29 December 1947 where he worked as a general secretary. Nkrumah quickly submitted plans for branches of the UGCC to be established colony-wide, and for strikes if necessary to gain political ends. This activist stance divided

4625-605: The London School of Economics as a PhD candidate in Anthropology . He withdrew after one term and the next year enrolled at University College London , with the intent to write a philosophy dissertation on "Knowledge and Logical Positivism". His supervisor, A. J. Ayer , declined to rate Nkrumah as a "first-class philosopher", saying, "I liked him and enjoyed talking to him but he did not seem to me to have an analytical mind. He wanted answers too quickly. I think part of

4750-642: The National Liberation Council , under whose supervision the country's economy was privatized. Nkrumah lived the rest of his life in Guinea , where he was named honorary co-president. Kwame Nkrumah was born on Tuesday, 21 September 1909 in Nkroful , Gold Coast (now Ghana). Nkroful was a small village in the Nzema area, in the southwest of the Gold Coast, close to the frontier with

4875-539: The National Liberation Front was able to negotiate a peace accord with French President Charles de Gaulle, the Évian Accords in which Europeans would be able to return to their native countries, remain in Algeria as foreigners or take Algerian citizenship. Most of the one million Europeans in Algeria poured out of the country. The French Union was replaced in the new Constitution of 1958 by

5000-572: The Tsardom of Russia (later Russian Empire and Soviet Union ), the Kingdom of England (later Great Britain ), the Netherlands , Belgium and the Kingdom of Prussia (now mostly Germany), and, beginning in the 18th century, the United States . Most of these countries had a period of almost complete dominance of world trade at some stage in the period from roughly 1500 to 1900. Beginning in

5125-457: The United States , in October 1935. According to historian John Henrik Clarke in his article on Nkrumah's American sojourn, "the influence of the ten years that he spent in the United States had a lingering effect on the rest of his life." Nkrumah had sought entry to Lincoln University some time before he began his studies there. On Friday, 1 March 1935, he sent the school a letter noting that his application had been pending for more than

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5250-539: The Zanzibar Revolution , and the events leading to the Nigerian Civil War . The " Scramble for Africa " between 1870 and 1914 was a significant period of European imperialism in Africa that ended with almost all of Africa, and its natural resources, claimed as colonies by European powers, who raced to secure as much land as possible while avoiding conflict amongst themselves. The partition of Africa

5375-478: The colonial police on a protest march. Riots broke out in Accra and though Nkrumah and other Ghanaian leaders were temporarily imprisoned, the event became a catalyst for the independence movement. After being released from prison, Nkrumah founded the Convention People's Party (CPP), which launched a wide-scale campaign in support of independence with the slogan "Self Government Now!" Heightened nationalism within

5500-402: The decolonisation of Africa . Nkrumah became the secretary of WANS. In addition to seeking to organize Africans to gain their nations' freedom, Nkrumah sought to succour the many West African seamen who had been stranded, destitute, in London at the end of the war, and established a Coloured Workers Association to empower and succour them. The U.S. State Department and MI5 watched Nkrumah and

5625-453: The 1945 Pan-African Congress , the Gold Coast's (modern-day Ghana's) independence leader Kwame Nkrumah made his focus clear. In the conference's declaration, he wrote, "We believe in the rights of all peoples to govern themselves. We affirm the right of all colonial peoples to control their own destiny. All colonies must be free from foreign imperialist control, whether political or economic." In 1948, three Ghanaian veterans were killed by

5750-653: The 1948 riots had included elected local government rather than the existing system dominated by the chiefs. This was uncontroversial until it became clear that it would be implemented by the CPP. That party's majority in the Legislative Assembly passed legislation in late 1951 that shifted power from the chiefs to the chairs of the councils, though there was some local rioting as rates were imposed. Nkrumah's re-titling as prime minister had not given him additional power, and he sought constitutional reform that would lead to independence. In 1952, he consulted with

5875-404: The 1960s, as he repressed political opposition and conducted elections that were not free and fair. In 1964, a constitutional amendment made Ghana a one-party state , with Nkrumah as president for life of both the nation and its party. He fostered a personality cult , forming ideological institutes and adopting the title of 'Osagyefo Dr.' Nkrumah was deposed in 1966 in a coup d'état by

6000-431: The 38 seats contested on a party basis, with Nkrumah elected for his Accra constituency. The UGCC won three seats, and one was taken by an independent. Arden-Clarke saw that the only alternative to Nkrumah's freedom was the end of the constitutional experiment. Nkrumah was released from prison on 12 February, receiving a rapturous reception from his followers. The following day, Arden-Clarke sent for him and asked him to form

6125-674: The African Students Association of America and Canada, becoming its president. Some members felt that the group should aspire for each colony to gain independence on its own; Nkrumah urged a Pan-African strategy. Nkrumah played a major role in the Pan-African conference held in New York in 1944, which urged the United States, at the end of the Second World War , to help ensure Africa became developed and free. His old teacher Aggrey had died in 1929 in

6250-535: The Belgian Congo. The colony was founded in 1908 following the transfer of sovereignty from the Congo Free State , which was the personal property of Belgium's king, Leopold II . The violence used by Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction had led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country. Belgian rule in

6375-535: The British, and came into force in April of the following year. The new document provided for an assembly of 104 members, all directly elected, with an all-African cabinet responsible for the internal governing of the colony. In the election on 15 June 1954, the CPP won 71, with the regional Northern People's Party forming the official opposition. A number of opposition groups formed the National Liberation Movement . Their demands were for

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6500-420: The Catholic seminary at Amissano . Although life there was strict, he liked it, and considered becoming a Jesuit . Nkrumah had heard journalist and future Nigerian president Nnamdi Azikiwe speak while a student at Achimota; the two men met and Azikiwe's influence increased Nkrumah's interest in black nationalism. The young teacher decided to further his education. Azikiwe had attended Lincoln University ,

6625-457: The Committee on Youth Organization (CYO) as a youth wing for the UGCC. It soon broke away and adopted the motto "Self-Government Now". The CYO united students, ex-servicemen, and market women. Nkrumah recounted in his autobiography that he knew that a break with the UGCC was inevitable, and wanted the masses behind him when the conflict occurred. Nkrumah's appeals for "Free-Dom" appealed to the great numbers of underemployed youths who had come from

6750-450: The Congo was based on the "colonial trinity" ( trinité coloniale ) of state, missionary and private company interests. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Congo experienced extensive urbanization and the administration aimed to make it into a "model colony". As the result of a widespread and increasingly radical pro-independence movement, the Congo achieved independence, as the Republic of Congo-Léopoldville in 1960. Of Belgium's other colonies,

6875-424: The French colony of the Ivory Coast . His father did not live with the family, but worked in Half Assini where he pursued his goldsmith business until his death. Kwame Nkrumah was raised by his mother and his extended family, who lived together traditionally and had more distant relatives often visiting. He lived a carefree childhood, spent in the village, in the bush, and on the nearby sea. During his years as

7000-408: The GTUC was held in 1966 after Kwame Nkrumah , the first president of Ghana was overthrown. The election was conducted to replace the union leaders who were under detention under the National Liberation Council . In 1971, the GTUC was dissolved as the sole trades union congress after parliament , led by the Busia government , passed Act 383. The Act was repealed by the I.K. Acheampong government in

7125-406: The Gold Coast more self-government. Nkrumah saw, even before the commission reported, that its recommendations would fall short of full dominion status, and began to organize a Positive Action campaign. Nkrumah demanded a constituent assembly to write a constitution. When the governor, Charles Arden-Clarke , would not commit to this, Nkrumah called for positive action, with the unions beginning

7250-406: The Gold Coast should have. This was refused by her government, who in 1955 stated that such a commission should only be used if the people of the Gold Coast proved incapable of deciding their own affairs. Amid political violence, the two sides attempted to reconcile their differences, but the NLM refused to participate in any committee with a CPP majority. The traditional leaders were also incensed by

7375-433: The Gold Coast to begin his political career as an advocate of national independence. He formed the Convention People's Party , which achieved rapid success through its unprecedented appeal to the common voter. He became Prime Minister in 1952 and retained the position when Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957. In 1960, Ghanaians approved a new constitution and elected Nkrumah President . His administration

7500-474: The Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples stated that colonial exploitation is a denial of human rights, and that power should be transferred back to the countries or territories concerned. Colonial economic exploitation involved diverting resource extraction (such as mining) profits to European shareholders at the expense of internal development, causing significant local socioeconomic grievances. For early African nationalists, decolonisation

7625-446: The ICFTU in 1966. Today it is affiliated with International Trade Union Confederation , the successor of ICFTU. The GTUC is affiliated with various international trade union organizations, including the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA). Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of

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7750-400: The Mu chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at Lincoln University. Nkrumah gained a Bachelor of Theology degree from Lincoln in 1942, the top student in the course. He earned from Penn the following year a Master of Arts degree in philosophy and a Master of Science in education. While at Penn, Nkrumah worked with the linguist William Everett Welmers, providing the spoken material that formed

7875-424: The Soviet Union's proletarian internationalism . Many Africans fought in both World War and World War II. In the First World War, African labor was essential on the Western Front, and African soldiers fought in the Egypt and Palestine campaigns. Many Africans were not allowed to bear arms or serve on an equal basis with whites. The sinking of the SS Mendi in 1917 was a particularly tragic incident for Africans in

8000-427: The U.S. at the event. The Soviet delegation urged Nkrumah to visit Moscow as soon as possible. Political scientist Ralph Bunche , an African American, was there for the United Nations, while the Duchess of Kent represented Queen Elizabeth II. Offers of assistance poured in from across the world. Even without them, the country seemed prosperous, with cocoa prices high and the potential of new resource development. As

8125-545: The UGCC was responsible for the unrest, and arrested six leaders, including Nkrumah and Danquah. The Big Six were incarcerated together in Kumasi , increasing the rift between Nkrumah and the others, who blamed him for the riots and their detention. After the colonial government learned that there were plots to storm the prison, the six were separated, with Nkrumah sent to Lawra ; all six were freed in April 1948. Many students and teachers had demonstrated for their release and had been suspended; Nkrumah, using his own funds, began

8250-514: The UGCC; at one July meeting, it was agreed to reinstate Nkrumah as secretary and disband the CPP. But Nkrumah's supporters would not have it, and persuaded him to refuse the offer and remain at their head. The CPP adopted the red cockerel as its symbol – a familiar icon for local ethnic groups, and a symbol of leadership, alertness, and masculinity. Party symbols and colours (red, white, and green) appeared on clothing, flags, vehicles and houses. CPP operatives drove red-white-and-green vans across

8375-419: The US, and in 1942, Nkrumah led traditional prayers for Aggrey at the graveside. This led to a break between him and Lincoln, though after he rose to prominence in the Gold Coast, he returned in 1951 to accept an honorary degree. Nevertheless, Nkrumah's doctoral thesis remained uncompleted. He had adopted the forename Francis while at the Amissano seminary; in 1945, he took the name Kwame Nkrumah. Just as in

8500-440: The United States' sphere of influence, and Ethiopia , which won its independence at the Battle of Adwa but was later occupied by Italy in 1936. Britain and France had the largest holdings, but Germany , Spain , Italy , Belgium , and Portugal also had colonies. By 1977, 50 African countries had gained independence from European colonial powers. The early twentieth century was a time of rising nationalism throughout

8625-404: The Vichy France regime controlled the Empire. One after another, most of the colonies were occupied by foreign powers (Japan in Indochina, Britain in Syria , Lebanon, and Madagascar , the United States and Britain in Morocco and Algeria , and Germany and Italy in Tunisia ). Control was gradually reestablished by Charles de Gaulle , who used the colonial bases as a launching point to help expel

8750-440: The Vichy government from Metropolitan France. De Gaulle, together with most Frenchmen, was committed to preserving the Empire in its new form. The French Union , included in the Constitution of 1946 , nominally replaced the former colonial empire, but officials in Paris remained in full control. The colonies were given local assemblies with only limited local power and budgets. A group of elites, known as evolués, who were natives of

8875-442: The WANS, focusing on their links with Communism. Nkrumah and Padmore established a group called The Circle to lead the way to West African independence and unity; the group aimed to create a Union of African Socialist Republics. A document from The Circle, setting forth that goal was found on Nkrumah upon his arrest in Accra in 1948, and was used against him by the British authorities. The 1946 Gold Coast constitution gave Africans

9000-553: The allied victory. On February 12, 1941, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss the post-war world. The result was the Atlantic Charter . It was not a treaty and was not submitted to the British Parliament or the Senate of the United States for ratification, but it turned out to be a widely acclaimed document. Clause Three referred to

9125-767: The basis of the first descriptive grammar of his native Fante dialect of the Akan language . Nkrumah was also initiated into Prince Hall Freemasonry while living in the United States. Nkrumah spent his summers in Harlem , a center of black life, thought and culture. He found housing and employment in New York City with difficulty and involved himself in the community. He spent many evenings listening to and arguing with street orators, and according to Clarke, Kwame Nkrumah in his years in America stated; These evenings were

9250-413: The code name of SWIFT. Beginning in October 1952, Nkrumah sought opinions from councils and from political parties on reform, and consulted widely across the country, including with opposition groups. The result the following year was a White Paper on a new constitution, seen as a final step before independence. Published in June 1953, the constitutional proposals were accepted both by the assembly and by

9375-652: The colonial era, principally the Belgian Congo (modern DRC ) from 1908 to 1960 and Ruanda-Urundi (modern Rwanda and Burundi ) from 1922 to 1962. It also had a small concession in China (1902–1931) and was a co-administrator of the Tangier International Zone in Morocco . Roughly 98% of Belgium's overseas territory was just one colony (about 76 times larger than Belgium itself) – known as

9500-565: The congress was the venerable W. E. B. Du Bois along with some who later took leading roles in leading their nations to independence, including Hastings Banda of Nyasaland (which became Malawi ), Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and Obafemi Awolowo of Nigeria . The congress sought to establish ongoing African activism in Britain in conjunction with the West African National Secretariat (WANS) to work towards

9625-476: The country grew their power and the political party widely expanded. In February 1951, the CPP gained political power by winning 34 of 38 elected seats, including one for Nkrumah who was imprisoned at the time. The British government revised the Gold Coast Constitution to give Ghanaians a majority in the legislature in 1951. In 1956, Ghana requested independence inside the Commonwealth , which

9750-467: The country, playing music and rallying public support for the party and especially for Nkrumah. These efforts were wildly successful, especially because previous political efforts in the Gold Coast had focused exclusively on the urban intelligentsia. The British convened a selected commission of middle-class Africans, including all of the Big Six except Nkrumah, to draft a new constitution that would give

9875-1101: The days of the Egyptians, so today God had ordained that certain among the African race should journey westwards to equip themselves with knowledge and experience for the day when they would be called upon to return to their motherland and to use the learning they had acquired to help improve the lot of their brethren. ...I had not realised at the time that I would contribute so much towards the fulfillment of this prophecy. — Kwame Nkrumah, The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (1957) Nkrumah read books about politics and divinity, and tutored students in philosophy. In 1943 Nkrumah met Trinidadian Marxist C. L. R. James , Russian expatriate Raya Dunayevskaya , and Chinese-American Grace Lee Boggs , all of whom were members of an American-based Marxist intellectual cohort . Nkrumah later credited James with teaching him "how an underground movement worked". Federal Bureau of Investigation files on Nkrumah, kept from January to May 1945, identify him as

10000-435: The defeated Central Powers . The independence demands of Egyptian and Tunisian leaders, which would have compromised the interests of the victorious Allies, were not entertained. Though Wilsonian ideals did not endure as the interwar order broke down, the principle of an international order based on the self-determination of peoples remained relevant. After 1919, anti-colonial leaders increasingly oriented themselves toward

10125-489: The end of World War II, recognised all people as being born free and equal. After World War II , the US and the African colonies put pressure on Britain to abide by the terms of the Atlantic Charter. After the war, some Britons considered African colonies childish and immature. British colonisers introduced democratic government at local levels in the colonies. Britain was forced to agree but Churchill rejected

10250-473: The end of colonialism, and delegates included future presidents of Ghana , Kenya and Malawi among other nationalist activists. Following World War II, rapid decolonisation swept across the continent of Africa as many territories gained their independence from European colonisation. In August 1941, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss their post-war goals. In that meeting, they agreed to

10375-751: The establishment of elected territorial assemblies, representation in Paris in a new "French Federation", and the eventual representation of Sub-Saharan Africans in the French Assembly. However, Independence was explicitly rejected as a future possibility: After the war ended, France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of the decolonisation movement. In Algeria demonstrations in May 1945 were repressed with an estimated 20,000-45,000 Algerians killed. Unrest in Haiphong, Indochina, in November 1945

10500-419: The exclusion of any indigenous languages from administrative (and often, any public) use. An extensive body of literature has examined the legacy of colonialism and colonial institutions on economic outcomes in Africa, with numerous studies showing disputed economic effects . Modernisation theory posits that colonial powers built infrastructure to integrate Africa into the world economy ; however, this

10625-476: The farms and villages to the towns. "Old hymn tunes were adapted to new songs of liberation which welcomed traveling orators , and especially Nkrumah himself, to mass rallies across the Gold Coast." According to a public speech delivered by Aaron Mike Oquaye , he claimed a meeting occurred in Saltpond , a town in the Central region, between Nkrumah and the members of UGCC where Nkrumah was said to have rejected

10750-527: The fifth of March turned to the sixth, Nkrumah stood before tens of thousands of supporters and proclaimed, "Ghana will be free forever." He spoke at the first session of the Ghana Parliament that Independence Day , telling his new country's citizens that "we have a duty to prove to the world that Africans can conduct their own affairs with efficiency and tolerance and through the exercise of democracy. We must set an example to all Africa." Nkrumah

10875-698: The house of his father, who had several wives. His father, Opanyin Kofi Nwiana Ngolomah, came from Nkroful situated in Nzema East currently called Ellembele, belonging to the Asona clan of the Akan Tribe. Sources indicated that Ngolomah stayed at Tarkwa-Nsuaem and dealt in the goldsmith business. Ngolomah was respected for his wise counsel by those who sought his advice on traditional issues and domestic affairs. He died in 1927. Kwame

11000-458: The late 19th century, Imperial Japan also engaged in settler colonization, most notably in Hokkaido and Korea . While some European colonisation focused on shorter-term exploitation of economic opportunities ( Newfoundland , for example, or Siberia ) or addressed specific goals such as settlers seeking religious freedom ( Massachusetts ), at other times long-term social and economic planning

11125-516: The lion with a black star. Red symbolizes bloodshed; green stands for beauty, agriculture, and abundance; yellow represents mineral wealth; and the Black Star represents African freedom. The country's new coat of arms , designed by Amon Kotei , includes eagles, a lion, a St. George's Cross, and a Black Star, with copious gold and gold trim. Philip Gbeho was commissioned to compose the new national anthem, " God Bless Our Homeland Ghana ". As

11250-516: The majority population. These efforts also helped change American policy towards South Africa, as seen with the passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986. Occupied by Italy briefly [REDACTED] Togoland South African Border War On 6 March 1957, Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast ) became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain its independence from European colonisation. Starting with

11375-470: The most significant was Ruanda-Urundi , a portion of German East Africa , which was given to Belgium as a League of Nations Mandate , when Germany lost all of its colonies at the end of World War I . Following the Rwandan Revolution , the mandate became the independent states of Burundi and Rwanda in 1962. The French colonial empire began to fall during the Second World War when

11500-543: The overseas territories but lived in metropolitan France emerged. De Gaulle assembled a major conference of Free France colonies in Brazzaville, in central Africa, in January–February 1944. The survival of France depended on support from these colonies, and De Gaulle made numerous concessions. These included the end of forced labour, the end of special legal restrictions that applied to natives but not to whites,

11625-554: The party's governing committee, which was led by J. B. Danquah . Nkrumah embarked on a tour to gain donations for the UGCC and establish new branches. Although the Gold Coast was more developed politically than Britain's other West African colonies, there was considerable discontent. Postwar inflation had caused public anger at high prices, leading to a boycott of small businesses run by Arabs which began in January 1948. Local cocoa bean farmers were upset because trees exhibiting cacao swollen-shoot virus , but still capable of yielding

11750-489: The plan for independence, and demanded that power be devolved to the regions. Discussions took place through late 1956 and into 1957. Although Nkrumah did not compromise on his insistence on a unitary state, the nation was divided into five regions, with power devolved from Accra, and the chiefs having a role in their governments. On 21 February 1957, the British prime minister , Harold Macmillan , announced that Ghana would be

11875-645: The races. After obtaining his teacher's certificate from the Prince of Wales' College at Achimota in 1930, Nkrumah was given a teaching post at the Roman Catholic primary school in Elmina in 1931. After a year there, he was made headmaster of the school at Axim . In Axim, he started to get involved in politics and founded the Nzema Literary Society. In 1933, he was appointed a teacher at

12000-677: The remaining colonies were quite small and lacked active nationalist movements. However, there was trouble in French Somaliland ( Djibouti ), which became independent in 1977. There also were complications and delays in the New Hebrides Vanuatu , which was the last to gain independence in 1980. New Caledonia remains a special case under French suzerainty. The Indian Ocean island of Mayotte voted in referendum in 1974 to retain its link with France and forgo independence. Sweden temporarily controlled several settlements on

12125-656: The right to decide what form of government people wanted, and to the restoration of self-government. Prime Minister Churchill argued in the British Parliament that the document referred to "the States and nations of Europe now under the Nazi yoke". President Roosevelt regarded it as applicable across the world. Anticolonial politicians immediately saw it as relevant to colonial empires. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, three years after

12250-410: The rule of King Leopold II of Belgium in the 19th century and Siddharth Kara has described colonial rule and European and Chinese influence in the 20th and 21st centuries. Colonisation may be used as a method of absorbing and assimilating foreign people into the culture of the imperial country. One instrument to this end is linguistic imperialism , or the use of non-indigenous colonial languages to

12375-554: The same year. The union's executives were replaced in a "coup d'etat" in 1983 by an Interim Management Committee at the instance of the Association of Local Unions (ALU) of the Greater Accra Region . The union in 1984 held it national congress to restore it existence and restored its constitutionality. The membership of the organization is made up of all workers' group. A local union is formed by any five members at

12500-546: The southern and eastern parts of Africa was not a peaceful process. Kenyan independence was preceded by the eight-year Mau Mau Uprising . In Rhodesia , the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the white minority resulted in a civil war that lasted until the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, which set the terms for recognised independence in 1980, as the new nation of Zimbabwe . Belgium controlled several territories and concessions during

12625-581: The struggles for African nationalism . During the Second World War, some local African industries and towns expanded when U-boats patrolling the Atlantic Ocean impeded the shipping of raw materials to Europe. Over time, urban communities, industries, and trade unions grew, improving literacy and education, and leading to the establishment of pro-independence newspapers. By 1945, the Fifth Pan-African Congress demanded

12750-538: The suggestion of Ako Adjei . Nkrumah hesitated but realized that the UGCC was controlled by conservative interests and noted that the new post could open huge political opportunities for him and accepted. After being questioned by British officials about his communist affiliations, Nkrumah boarded the MV Accra at Liverpool in November 1947 for the voyage home. After brief stops in Sierra Leone , Liberia , and

12875-449: The three British members of the cabinet took care not to vote against the elected majority. Prior to the CPP taking office, British officials had prepared a ten-year plan for development. With demands for infrastructure improvements coming in from all over the colony, Nkrumah approved it in general, but halved the time to five years. The colony was in good financial shape, with reserves from years of cocoa profit held in London, and Nkrumah

13000-610: The trouble may have been that he wasn't concentrating very hard on his thesis. It was a way of marking time until the opportunity came for him to return to Ghana." Finally, Nkrumah enrolled in, but did not complete, a study in law at Gray's Inn . Nkrumah spent his time on political organizations. He and Padmore were among the principal organizers, and co-treasurers, of the Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester (15–19 October 1945). The Congress elaborated

13125-437: The universal applicability of self-determination for subject nations. Italy, a colonial power, lost its African empire, Italian East Africa , Italian Ethiopia , Italian Eritrea , Italian Somalia and Italian Libya , as a result of World War II. Furthermore, colonies such as Nigeria , Senegal and Ghana pushed for self-governance as colonial powers were exhausted by war efforts. The United Nations 1960 Declaration on

13250-417: The visiting Colonial Secretary , Oliver Lyttelton , who indicated that Britain would look favorably on further advancement, so long as the chiefs and other stakeholders had the opportunity to express their views. Initially skeptical of Nkrumah's socialist policies, Britain's MI5 had compiled large amounts of intelligence on Nkrumah through several sources, including tapping phones and mail interception under

13375-483: The war, with 607 of the 646 crew killed being Black South Africans . In the Second World War, Africans fought in both the European and Asian theatres of war. Approximately one million sub-Saharan Africans served in European armies in some capacity. Many Africans were compelled or even forced into military service by their respective colonial regimes, but some voluntarily enlisted in search of better opportunities than they could find in civilian employment. This led to

13500-582: The world. The end of the First World War saw the breakup of the German , Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires according to the principles espoused in Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points . Though many anti-colonial intellectuals saw the potential of Wilsonian Internationalism to advance their aims, Wilson had no intention of applying the principle of self-determination outside the lands of

13625-456: Was Leader of Government Business in a cabinet chaired by Arden-Clarke. Quick progress was made, and in 1952, the governor withdrew from the cabinet, leaving Nkrumah as his prime minister, with the portfolios that had been reserved for expatriates going to Africans. There were accusations of corruption, and of nepotism, as officials, following African custom, attempted to benefit their extended families and their tribes. The recommendations following

13750-758: Was a moral imperative around which a political movement could be assembled. In the 1930s, the colonial powers had cultivated, sometimes inadvertently, a small elite of local African leaders educated in Western universities, where they became familiar with ideas such as self-determination . Although independence was not encouraged, arrangements between these leaders and the colonial powers developed, and such figures as Jomo Kenyatta ( Kenya ), Kwame Nkrumah ( Gold Coast , now Ghana ), Julius Nyerere ( Tanganyika , now Tanzania ), Léopold Sédar Senghor ( Senegal ), Nnamdi Azikiwe ( Nigeria ), Patrice Lumumba ( DRC ) and Félix Houphouët-Boigny ( Côte d'Ivoire ) came to lead

13875-764: Was a series of political developments in Africa that spanned from the mid-1950s to 1975, during the Cold War . Colonial governments gave way to sovereign states in a process often marred by violence, political turmoil, widespread unrest, and organised revolts . Major events in the decolonisation of Africa included the Mau Mau rebellion , the Algerian War , the Congo Crisis , the Angolan War of Independence ,

14000-574: Was a three-way conflict due to the large number of " pieds-noirs " (Europeans who had settled there in the 125 years of French rule ). The political crisis in France caused the collapse of the Fourth Republic, as Charles de Gaulle returned to power in 1958 and finally pulled the French soldiers and settlers out of Algeria by 1962. Lasting more than eight years, the estimated death toll typically falls between 300,000 and 400,000 people. By 1962,

14125-436: Was able to influence events through smuggled notes written on toilet paper. The British prepared for an election for the Gold Coast under their new constitution, and Nkrumah insisted that the CPP contest all seats. The situation had become calmer once Nkrumah was arrested, and the CPP and the British worked together to prepare electoral rolls. Nkrumah stood, from prison, for a directly elected Accra seat. Gbedemah worked to set up

14250-441: Was able to spend freely. Modern trunk roads were built along the coast and within the interior. The rail system was modernized and expanded. Modern water and sewer systems were installed in most towns, where housing schemes were begun. Construction began on a new harbour at Tema , near Accra, and the existing port, at Takoradi , was expanded. An urgent programme to build and expand schools, from primary to teacher and trade training,

14375-416: Was begun. From 1951 to 1956, the number of pupils being educated at the colony's schools rose from 200,000 to 500,000. Nevertheless, the number of graduates being produced was insufficient to the burgeoning civil service's needs, and in 1953, Nkrumah announced that though Africans would be given preference, the country would be relying on expatriate European civil servants for several years. Nkrumah's title

14500-582: Was built mainly for extraction purposes. African economies were structured to benefit the coloniser and any surplus was likely to be 'drained', thereby stifling local capital accumulation . Dependency theory suggests that most African economies continued to occupy a subordinate position in the world economy after independence with a reliance on primary commodities such as copper in Zambia and tea in Kenya . Despite this continued reliance and unfair trading terms,

14625-439: Was composed of four regions, several former colonies amalgamated into one. Nkrumah sought to unite them under one nationality, and bring the country to independence. Key to meeting the challenges was convincing the British that the CPP's programmes were not only practical, but inevitable, and Nkrumah and Arden-Clarke worked closely together. The governor instructed the civil service to give the fledgling government full support, and

14750-488: Was confirmed at the Berlin Conference of 1885, without regard for the existing political and social structures. Almost all the pre-colonial states of Africa lost their sovereignty. The only exceptions were Liberia , which had been settled in the early 19th century by formerly enslaved African-Americans and was recognized as independent by the United States in 1862 but was viewed by European powers as being in

14875-728: Was granted peacefully in 1957 with Nkrumah as prime minister and Queen Elizabeth II as sovereign. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan gave the famous "Wind of Change" speech in South Africa in February 1960, where he spoke to the country's Parliament of "the wind of change blowing through this continent." Macmillan urgently wanted to avoid the same kind of colonial war that France was fighting in Algeria. Under his premiership decolonisation proceeded rapidly. Britain's remaining colonies in Africa, except for Southern Rhodesia , were all granted independence by 1968. British withdrawal from

15000-568: Was hailed as the Osagyefo – which means "redeemer" in the Akan language . This independence ceremony included the Duchess of Kent and Governor General Charles Arden-Clarke . With more than 600 reporters in attendance, Ghanaian independence became one of the most internationally reported news events in modern African history. The flag of Ghana designed by Theodosia Okoh , inverting Ethiopia's green-yellow-red Lion of Judah flag and replacing

15125-580: Was his mother's only child. She sent him to the elementary school run by a Catholic mission at Half Assini , where he proved an adept student. Although his mother, whose name was Elizabeth Nyanibah (1876/77–1979), later stated his year of birth as 1912, Nkrumah wrote that he was born on 21 September 1909. His mother hailed from Nsuaem and belonged to the Agona family . She was a fishmonger and petty trader when she married his father. Eight days after his birth, his father named him as Francis Nwia-Kofi after

15250-465: Was involved for both parties, but more on the colonizing countries themselves, based on elaborate theory-building (note James Oglethorpe 's Colony of Georgia in the 1730s and Edward Gibbon Wakefield 's New Zealand Company in the 1840s). In some cases European colonization appeared to be primarily for long-term economic gain, as in the Congo where Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness described life under

15375-793: Was met by a warship bombarding the city. Paul Ramadier 's ( SFIO ) cabinet repressed the Malagasy Uprising in Madagascar in 1947. French officials estimated the number of Malagasy killed from as low as 11,000 to a French Army estimate of 89,000. In Cameroun , the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon 's insurrection which began in 1955 headed by Ruben Um Nyobé , was violently repressed over two years, with perhaps as many as 100,000 people killed. French involvement in Algeria stretched back

15500-576: Was on the scene, also bringing a nightly message to his street followers. Occasionally Suji Abdul Hamid [ sic ], a champion of Harlem labour, held a night rally and demanded more jobs for blacks in their own community  ...This is part of the drama on the Harlem streets as the student Kwame Nkrumah walked and watched. Nkrumah was an activist student, organizing a group of expatriate African students in Pennsylvania and building it into

15625-460: Was primarily socialist as well as nationalist . It funded national industrial and energy projects, developed a strong national education system and promoted a pan-Africanist culture. Under Nkrumah, Ghana played a leading role in African international relations during the decolonization period. After multiple failed attempts on his life, coupled with increasingly difficult local economic conditions, Nkrumah's government became authoritarian in

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