Gold Coast Euro-Africans
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Gold Coast Euro-Africans were a historical demographic based in coastal urban settlements in colonial
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, that arose from unions between European men and African women from the late 15th century – the decade between 1471 and 1482, until the mid-20th century, circa 1957, when Ghana attained its independence. In this period, different geographic areas of the Gold Coast were politically controlled at various times by the
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and the
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. There are also records of merchants of other European nationalities such as the
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, French,
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and
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, operating along the coast, in addition to American sailors and traders from New York,
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Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
. Euro-Africans were influential in intellectual, technocratic, artisanal, commercial and public life in general, actively participating in multiple fields of scholarly and civic importance. Scholars have referred to this Euro-African population of the
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
as "mulattos", "''mulatofoi''" and "''owulai''" among other descriptions. The term, ''owula'' conveys contemporary notions of "gentlemanliness, learning and urbanity" or "a salaried big man" in the
Ga language Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. There are also some speakers in Togo, Benin and Western Nigeria. It has a phonemic distinction between three vowel lengths. Classification Ga is a Kwa language, part of ...
. The cross-cultural interactions between Europeans and Africans were mercantile-driven and an avenue to boost social capital for economic and political gain i.e. "wealth and power." The growth and development of Christianity during the colonial period also instituted motifs of modernity vis-à-vis Euro-African identity. This model created a spectrum of practices, ranging from a full celebration of native African customs to a total embrace and acculturation of
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.


Genealogy

Gold Coast Euro-Africans were mostly members of
Anlo Ewe The Anlo Ewe are a sub-group of the Ewe people of approximately 6 million people, inhabiting southern Togo, southern Benin, southwest Nigeria, and south-eastern parts of the Volta Region of Ghana; meanwhile, a majority of Ewe are located in the ...
, Fante and Ga ethnicities - groups that are historically based along the coast of Ghana. Typical cities that had a strong Euro-African presence include Accra, Anomabu, Cape Coast,
Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cape Coast. Elmina w ...
,
Keta Keta is a coastal town in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is the capital of the Keta Municipal District. Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the Danish, because they ...
,
Saltpond Saltpond is a town and the capital of the Mfantsiman Municipal District in the Central Region of South Ghana. Saltpond has a population of 24,689 people. Economy History Saltpond was in a state of economic decline since the landing beach was a ...
,
Sekondi-Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indu ...
and
Winneba Winneba is a town and the capital of Effutu Municipal District in Central Region of South Ghana. Winneba has a population of 55,331. Winneba, traditionally known as ''Simpa'', is a historic fishing port in south Ghana, lying on the south co ...
. Many Euro-Africans also owned farms and hamlets further inland on peri-urban plains and rural locales. Euro-African residences along the coast, which also housed well-stocked personal libraries, typically combined colonial architecture designs from
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
plans, traditional Akan courtyard houses, and the sobrado styles. Euro-African marriage ceremonies largely combined traditional customary practices with nominal Western Christian standards of
monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyg ...
, often in accordance with official colonial rules of the time. Euro-Africans also forged relationships with prominent native families of royal ancestry and nobility, both along the coast and in the Akan hinterland. As a result, Euro-Africans were "intermediaries" and "councillors" who straddled both spheres with relative ease. There are also cases of intermarriages between Euro-Africans and immigrants from the African diaspora in the Atlantic such as
Afro-Brazilians Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see " preto"). Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. ...
,
West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...
s and
Sierra Leone Creoles The Sierra Leone Creole people ( kri, Krio people) are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are lineal descendant, descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Sierra Leone Liberated African, Liberated Af ...
descended from the
Nova Scotian Settlers The Nova Scotian Settlers, or Sierra Leone Settlers (also known as the Nova Scotians or more commonly as the Settlers) were African-Americans who founded the settlement of Freetown, Sierra Leone and the Colony of Sierra Leone, on March 11, 1792 ...
. A number of these Euro-Afro-Caribbean families are still extant. There are also records of marriages between Euro-Africans and groups from Anglophone West Africa territories such as the
Sierra Leone Creoles The Sierra Leone Creole people ( kri, Krio people) are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are lineal descendant, descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Sierra Leone Liberated African, Liberated Af ...
from
Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...
, a focal trading centre and harbour city in that period. In postcolonial Ghana, Euro-Africans fully assimilated into the broader Ghanaian culture and are therefore no longer perceived by scholars as a distinct demographic group.


Cultural attributes


Education and literacy

Euro-Africans were noted for their literacy, having benefited from a European-type formal education at the castle schools at Christiansborg and Cape Coast, both opened in the seventeenth century, as well as the government school at Elmina Castle which was opened in 1482. This Western style education can be situated in coastal commerce and educational connections to Protestant missionaries from the Basel and Wesleyan societies that operated in the colony’s townships. The castle schools were started with the approval of European Governors to baptise and primarily educate the male Euro-African mulatto children of
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an men and
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
African women The culture, evolution, and history of women who were born in, live in, and are from the continent of Africa reflect the evolution and history of the African continent itself. Numerous short studies regarding women's history in African nations ...
to train them as administrative
clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and adminis ...
and interpreters for colonial civil servants as well as soldiers in the garrisons around coastal European fortresses. Early generations of Euro-Africans went to Europe for higher education. Though largely excluded from the higher ranks of state bureaucracy, Western-educated Euro-Africans formed the nucleus of the emerging literate, wealthy, urban, anglophile professionals, co-opting the imperial project aspirations on the Gold Coast. The sartorial choice for Euro-African men and women included frock-coats,
top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditional ...
s and Victorian dresses, creating caricature images of a pseudo-aristocracy. Examples within this group include James Bannerman (1790–1858), John Hansen (d. 1840) of Jamestown and trader and politician, Henry Richter (1785–1849) of Osu. James Bannerman (1790–1858) was the Lieutenant-Governor of the
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
from 4 December 1850 to 14 October 1851. James Bannerman’s father was Scottish while his mother was a Fante woman. He married an Asante princess, Yaa Hom or Yeboah, daughter of the then Asantehene, Osei Bonsu, a political prisoner captured during the ''Battle of Katamanso'' in 1826. Moreover, on the Dutch Gold Coast, Carel Hendrik Bartels (1792 – 1850), the son of Cornelius Ludewich Bartels (d. 1804), Governor-General of the Gold Coast, and a local Fante mulatto woman, Maria Clericq was sent to the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
during his youth for education. Additionally, George Lutterodt, an educated Ga-Danish mulatto merchant and an ally of the Basel missionary,
Andreas Riis Andreas Riis (12 January 1804 – 13 January 1854) was a Danish minister and pioneer missionary who is widely regarded by historians as the founder of the Gold Coast branch of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society. A resident of the Gold ...
served as the acting Governor of the Danish Gold Coast from 5 July 1844 to 9 October 1844. In another instance, a clash between the old customs and the new Euro-African paradigm of literacy happened in the 1840s, when a Danish-educated baptised Ga native, Frederick Noi Dowuona initially declined the ''Osu Maŋtsɛ'' chieftain position, citing his Christian beliefs imbibed from his education in Denmark, work as an interpreter and educator at the Christiansborg Castle and his encounter with the first Basel missionaries who arrived on the Gold Coast in 1828. In 1854 after the naval bombardment of Osu over the poll tax ordinance, Dowuona grudgingly accepted to be enstooled on condition of being allowed by the traditional polity to wear Western attire and be exempt from certain religious observances and rituals, in discharging his duties as the king of the town.


Participation in public discourse

The then emerging clergy and catechist class had educated "mulattos" among its ranks. A notable Western-educated Euro-African churchman was the
Basel Mission The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), found ...
pastor and historian, Carl Christian Reindorf whose ''
magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
'', '' The History of the Gold Coast and Asante,'' was published in 1895. Reindorf’s father had been a Danish-Ga soldier stationed at the Christiansborg Castle barracks, and later became an agent for an English merchant, Joshua Ridley. Carl Reindorf's grandfather, Augustus Frederick Hackenburg was a Danish merchant who arrived on the Gold Coast in 1739 and later became the colonial Governor, leaving the position in 1748. As an illustration, in mass media, the first indigenous newspaper to be established on the Gold Coast was the ''Accra Herald,'' later renamed the ''West African Herald'', first published in 1857 in British Accra by the Euro-African English-trained lawyer Charles Bannerman and his brother Edmund, scions of the then well-connected coastal Bannerman family. The two brothers were children of James Bannerman. The newspaper was critical of European proselytizing on the Gold Coast and by 1859 had a readership of 310 subscribers. Literature thus became an effective vehicle for public opinion and discourse.


Social perceptions

Oral accounts indicate that coastal mulatto men had a perceived reputation of marital instability and philandering even though the native religions permitted
polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
. A Basel missionary observed that Euro-African men were often ''“half-bankrupt...lazy and lustful”'' in their quest for entertainment or merry-making. Euro-African traders often partook in traditional festivals like ''
Homowo Homowo is a harvest festival celebrated by the Ga people of Ghana in the Greater Accra Region. The festival starts in the month of August with the planting of crops (mainly maize and yam) before the rainy season starts. During the festival, ...
'' of the Ga people of Accra which had elements of drumming, dancing and brandy drinking. Many Euro-Africans, though baptised and confirmed in the church, were nominally Christian and led a "robustly secular lifestyle" which was at odds with the lifestyle of Pietistic
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
and Victorian Wesleyan missionaries whose spiritual influence extended to the coast. Like their trader counterparts, Euro-Africans in white-collar occupations often socialised with European residents on the coast, engaging in ''“hard drinking, gambling and occasional outburst of violent behaviour.”''


Notable Gold Coast Euro-Africans

* James Bannerman - Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast from 4 December 1850 to 14 October 1851 * Carel Hendrik Bartels - judge, colonial government official in Elmina and trader on the Dutch Gold Coast * George Emil Eminsang - Gold Coast lawyer * Frederik Willem Fennekol - Dutch jurist and politician * Regina Hesse - pioneer woman educator and school principal on the Gold Coast * Henry van Hien - Gold Coast nationalist leader *
Jacob Huydecoper Jacob Peter Huydecoper (11 November 1811 – 12 February 1845) was an early 19th-century Elmina Euro-African civil servant and diplomat on the Dutch Gold Coast. Early life Jacob Huydecoper was born in Elmina to Willem Huydecoper and a ...
- Gold Coast diplomat * Frans Last - Attorney General at the Supreme Court of the Dutch East Indies, son of commander Friedrich Last and Euro-African Elisabeth Atteveldt * Willem Essuman Pietersen - Gold Coast merchant and educationalist * Christian Jacob Protten - Moravian missionary, linguist, translator and educator in Christiansborg on the Danish Gold Coast in the 1700s *
Emmanuel Charles Quist Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist, also known as Paa Quist (21 May 1880, in Christiansborg, Accra – 30 March 1959) was a barrister, educator and judge who served as the first Speaker of the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly and the first Speaker of ...
- barrister, judge and the first African President of the Legislative Council and first Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana * Carl Christian Reindorf - Basel mission pastor and pioneer historian * Hendrik Vroom - merchant and administrator


Euro-African unions

* James Bannerman (1790–1858), British officer in
British Gold Coast The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...
, son of a Fante mother and a British father from Scotland. Married to an Ashanti princess. * Carel Hendrik Bartels (1792–1850) was the son of Cornelius Ludewich Bartels, Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast and local mulatto Maria Clericq. * Cornelius Ludewich Bartels (?–1804), German officer of the Dutch West India Company. Had sons with a Gold Coast woman and with half-Dutch, half-African Maria Clericq. His descent has had a relevant role in Ghana. *
Willem Bosman Willem Bosman (12 January 1672 – after 1703) was a merchant in the service of the Dutch West India Company, spending most of his time in the Dutch Gold Coast. Bosman was born in Utrecht. Although he sailed to the Gold Coast as an apprentice ...
(1672–after 1703), Dutch merchant. The Ghanaian surname Bossman is thought to originate from the children Bosman had with his native African mistresses. * Jan Niezer (1756–1822), merchant in the Dutch Gold Coast. Son of a German doctor's assistant and an African woman. * Christian Jacob Protten (1715–1769), missionary in the
Danish Gold Coast The Danish Gold Coast ( da, Danske Guldkyst or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was coloni ...
. Son of a Danish soldier and a Ga princess. * Willem George Frederik Derx (1813–1890), Dutch civil servant. Married Jacoba Araba Bartels. * Willem Jan Derx (1844–1913), Dutch vice-admiral. Son of Willem George Frederik Derx and Jacoba Araba Bartels. * Willem Huydecoper (1788–1826), a merchant in the Dutch Gold Coast, son of Director-General Jan Pieter Theodoor Huydecoper, and Amba Quacoea, a Fante woman. * Anthony van der Eb (1813–1852), Dutch civil servant. Married Efua Henrietta Huydecoper and later Manza Henrietta Bartels.


Selected descendants of Euro-Africans

* Frederick Nanka-Bruce, Gold Coast medical doctor * Frederick Bruce-Lyle, Ghanaian judge * William Bruce-Lyle, Ghanaian judge * John Asamoah Bruce, Ghanaian Air Force personnel * King Bruce, Ghanaian musician * Vida Bruce, Ghanaian sprinter * Harriet Bruce-Annan, Ghanaian programmer and humanitarian * Thomas Hutton-Mills Jr., Gold Coast lawyer * Edmund Bannerman, Gold Coast lawyer and journalist *
Charles Odamtten Easmon Charles Odamtten Easmon or C. O. Easmon, popularly known as Charlie Easmon, (22 September 1913 – 19 May 1994) was a medical doctor and academic who became the first Ghanaian to formally qualify as a surgeon specialist and the first Dean of t ...
, first Ghanaian surgeon *
Herman Chinery-Hesse Herman Kojo Chinery-Hesse (born 1963) is a Ghanaian technology entrepreneur and the founder of theSOFTtribe, the oldest and largest software company in Ghana. He is popularly known as the Bill Gates of Africa. Chinery-Hesse also made the list of ...
, Ghanaian
computer engineer Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and computer software, software. C ...
and businessman *
Hugh Quarshie Hugh Anthony Quarshie (born 22 December 1954) is a Ghanaian-born British actor. Some of his best-known roles include his appearances in the films ''Highlander'' (1986), '' The Church'' (1989), ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1 ...
, Ghanaian British actor


Gallery

Carel Hendrik Bartels.jpg, Carel Hendrik Bartels Bosm009 p01.png, Willem Bosman W.F.G. Derx.jpg, W. G .F. Derx Derx, WJ. Vice admiraal, directeur en commandant van de marine.jpg, W. J. Derx CJ Protten.png, Christian Jacob Protten Carl Christian Reindorf.png, Carl Christian Reindorf


See also

*
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
*
Signare Signares were the Mulatto French-African women of the island of Gorée and the city of Saint-Louis in French Senegal during the 18th and 19th centuries. These women of color managed to gain some individual assets, status, and power in the hi ...
* Atlantic Creole *
Americo-Liberians Americo-Liberian people or Congo people or Congau people in Liberian English,Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of Afr ...
*
Sierra Leone Creole people The Sierra Leone Creole people ( kri, Krio people) are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Liberated African slaves who settled in the Western Area of ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold Coast Euro-Africans Ethnic groups in Ghana Ghanaian people of European descent Mulatto Multiracial affairs in Africa