The Swedish Gold Coast ( sv, Svenska Guldkusten) was a colony of the Swedish Africa Company founded in 1650 by Hendrik Carloff on the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...

in present-day

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 Tog ...

in Africa. Under foreign occupation for much of its existence, it disappeared for good in April 1663 when it became part of the

Dutch Gold Coast The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea ( Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 161 ...

History

Following the foundation of the Swedish Africa Company (1649) by Louis de Geer an expedition under the command of Hendrik Carloff was sent to Africa in 1650. Carloff made a treaty with the Akan ''King of Futu'' (also ''Feta'') on selling some areas of land. On 22 April 1650 the Swedish Gold Coast was founded and Carloff became its first administrator. In 1652 the foundations were laid of the fort Carlsborg In 1656 Johan Filip von Krusenstierna (brother of the great-grandfather of Adam Johann von Krusenstern) was appointed the new Governor. This enraged Carloff. He left Cabo Corso only to return on 27 January 1658 on the Danish

Privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Glückstadt''. Fort Carlsborg was seized and made part of the Danish Gold Coast colony. King

Charles X Gustav of Sweden Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

made this one of his reasons to go to war with Denmark. After the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660, Cabo Corso Castle was to be returned to Swedish administration: However it then was revealed that Carloff's associate Samuel Schmidt (Smith, Smit) had already illegally sold the colony in April 1659 to the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ...

on his own, and had disappeared with the gold to

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

. Later on the local population started a successful uprising against their new masters and in December 1660 the King of the

Akan people The Akan () people live primarily in present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast in West Africa. The Akan language (also known as ''Twi/Fante'') are a group of dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Con ...

subgroup- Futu again offered Sweden control over the area. A new expedition was sent to the colony which remained under Swedish administration only for a short period. Von Krusenstierna was reappointed as administrator. On 20 April 1663 Fort Carlsborg and the capital Fort Christiansborg were again seized by the Dutch after a long defense under the Swedish commander Anton (Tönnies) Voss. On 9 May 1664 the Dutch controlled area again was seized by Robert Holmes who made it part of the British Gold Coast colony. Swedish claims to the colony were later formally relinquished in the 1667 Treaty of Breda.

Geography

The colony consisted of only a few forts and trading posts scattered around ''Cabo Corso'' (present-day

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guine ...

) along the coast on the

in what later would become the British Gold Coast then

. The eastern section of the colony later swapped hands from the German Empire (where it had noticeably expanded northward) to France, and then later gained independence as

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. The colony consisted of

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

s and

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

s ( factories): * Fort Carlsborg (also ''Carolusborg'' and ''

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, establish ...

''), present day

, Central Region, under Swedish administration 22 April 1650 – January/February 1658, 10 December 1660 – 22 April 1663. * Fort William (also ''Annamabo''), present day

Anomabu Anomabu, also spelled Anomabo and formerly as Annamaboe, is a town on the coast of the Mfantsiman Municipal District of the Central Region of South Ghana. Anomabu has a settlement population of 14,389 people. Anomabu is located 12 km east ...

, Central region, under Swedish administration 1650 – 1657 * Fort Batenstein (also ''Batensteyn''), present day Butri near Sekondi-Takoradi, Western region, under Swedish administration 1650 – 1656 *

Fort Christiansborg Osu Castle (also known as Fort Christiansborg or the Castle) is a castle located in Osu, Ghana on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in Africa. A substantial fort was built by Denmark-Norway in the 1660s, thereafter the fort changed ownersh ...

(also ''Fort Frederiksborg'' and '' Osu Castle''), present day Osu, Ghana in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, headquarters, under Swedish administration 1652 – 1658 * Fort Witsen (also ''Taccorari''), present day Sekondi-Takoradi, Western region, under Swedish administration 1653 – 1658 * Fort Apollonia, present day Beyin, Western region, under Swedish administration 1655 – 1657 *Gemoree Factory * Accara Factory

Colonial heads

Each of the three Swedish administrators had a different gubernatorial title: * Director: Hendrik Carloff, 22 April 1650 – 1655 * Governor:

Johann Philipp von Krusenstjerna Johann Philipp von Krusenstjerna (1624–1659) was a German soldier who entered the service of the Swedish Africa Company. He was the second governor of Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles ...

(son of Philipp Crusius), 1655 – 27 Jan 1658 * Danish occupation: 27 Jan 1658 – Mar 1659 * Dutch occupation: Mar 1659 – 10 Dec 1660 * Futu occupation (nominally Swedish): 10 Dec 1660 – 1662 * Commander: Tönnies Voss 16 Mar 1662 – 22 Apr 1663

References

Sources

WorldStatesmen.org: Swedish Gold Coast

{{coord missing, Ghana History of Ghana Former colonies in Africa Gold Coast Swedish colonisation in Africa Cape Coast 17th century in Ghana 1650s in Africa 1660s in Africa States and territories established in 1650 States and territories disestablished in 1663 1650 establishments in Africa 1663 disestablishments in Africa 1650 establishments in the Swedish colonial empire 1658 disestablishments in the Swedish colonial empire 1660 establishments in the Swedish colonial empire 1663 disestablishments in the Swedish colonial empire History of West Africa Ghana–Sweden relations