Swedish Gold Coast

Swedish Gold Coast
Swedish Gold Coast
Cabo Corso
Svenska Guldkusten
Swedish colony

 

1650–1658
1660–1663

 

Flag of Sweden

Historic map of the Gold Coast
Capital Fort Christiansborg
Language(s) Swedish
Political structure Colony
King/Queen of Sweden
 - 1632-1654 Christina
 - 1654-1660 Charles X Gustav
 - 1660-1697 Charles XI
Administrator
 - 1650-1656 Henrik Carloff
 - 1656-1658 Johan Filip von Krusenstierna
 - 1659-1660 Johan Filip von Krusenstierna
 - 1663 Tönnies Voss
Historical era Colonial period
 - Established 1650
 - Danish conquest 1658
 - Treaty of Copenhagen 1660
 - Fall 1663
Today part of  Ghana  Togo

The Swedish Gold Coast was a Swedish colony founded in 1650 on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana and Togo in West Africa. It lasted to April 1663 when the whole Swedish Gold Coast was seized by the Danes, and integrated in the Danish Gold Coast.

Contents

Geography

The colony consisted of only a few forts and trading posts scattered around Cabo Corso (present-day Cape Coast) along the coast on the Gulf of Guinea in what later would become the British Gold Coast.

The colony consisted of fortifications and trading posts (factories):

  • Fort Carlsborg (also Carolusborg and Cape Coast Castle), present day Cape Coast, Centralregion, under Swedish administration 22 April 1650 - January/February 1658, 10 December 1660 - 22 April 1663.
  • Fort William (also Annamabo), present day Anomabu, 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 (also Fort Frederiksborg and Osu Castle), present day Osu, Ghana in Accra, 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 Benyin, 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: Henrik Carloff, 22 April 1650 - 1656
  • Governor: Johan Filip von Krusenstierna (son of Philipp Crusius), 1656 - February 1658, 1659 - 1660
  • Commander: Tönnies Voss, 16 - 22 April 1663

History

Following the foundation of the Swedish Africa Company in 1649 an expedition under the command of Henrik Carloff was sent to Africa in 1650. Carloff made a treaty with the 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 1656 Johan Filip von Krusenstierna (brother of the greatgrandfather of Adam Johann von Krusenstern)[1] was appointed the new Governor. This enraged Carloff. He left Cabo Corso only to return on 27 January 1658 on the Danish Privateer "Glückstadt". Fort Carlsborg was seized and made part of the Danish Gold Coast colony.

King Charles X Gustav of Sweden made this one of his reasons to go to war with Denmark. After the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660 Cabo Corso was to be returned to Swedish administration: However it then was revealed that Carloff's associate Schmidt had already sold the colony in March 1659 to the Netherlands on his own, and had disappeared with the money.

Later on the local population started a successful uprising against their new masters and in December 1660 the King of 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 again were seized by the Danes after a long defense under the Swedish commander Anton Voss.

On 9 May 1664 the area again was seized, this time by the British who made it part of the British Gold Coast colony.

References

  1. ^ (German) Baltic nobility genealogy handbook Governor Johan Filip von Krusenstierna family

Sources


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gold Coast — may refer to:Colonization*The Gold Coast (region) in west Africa, which was made up of the following colonies: **Gold Coast (British colony), British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa **Brandenburger Gold Coast, former German colony… …   Wikipedia

  • Gold Coast (region) — The Gold Coast was the region of West Africa which is now the nation of Ghana. Early uses of the term refer literally to the coast and not the interior. It is not until the 19th century that the term comes to refer to areas that are far from the… …   Wikipedia

  • Danish Gold Coast — A contemporary drawing of the Danish colonial fort, Fort Christiansborg, now Osu Castle. The outpost to the right is Fort Prøvestenen The Danish Gold Coast was a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present day Ghana), which is on the West African… …   Wikipedia

  • Gold Coast (British colony) — This article is about the British colony in west Africa, 1821 1957. For other uses, see Gold Coast (disambiguation) Infobox Former Country native name = conventional long name = Colony of Gold Coast common name = Gold Coast| continent = Africa… …   Wikipedia

  • List of colonial heads of the Danish Gold Coast — Colonial Heads of the Danish Gold Coast Settlements The Danish Gold Coast was established on the eastern Gold Coast (present day Ghana): Fort Friedensborg (Ningo) Fort Christiansborg Fort Augustaborg (Tshi) Fort Prinzenstein (Keta) Fort… …   Wikipedia

  • Brandenburger Gold Coast — Inside Groß Friedrichsburg. View in February 1884. The Brandenburger Gold Coast, later Prussian Gold Coast, was a part of the Gold Coast. The Brandenburg colony existed from 1682 to 1717. Contents …   Wikipedia

  • Dutch Gold Coast — Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea Dutch colony 1598–1872 …   Wikipedia

  • Portuguese Gold Coast — The Portuguese Gold Coast was a Portuguese colony on the West African Gold Coast (present day Ghana) on the Gulf of Guinea. History The Portuguese established the following settlements on the Gold Coast from January 21, 1482 …   Wikipedia

  • Swedish slave trade — occurred in the early history of Sweden and resurfaced during the 17th century, around the time Swedish overseas colonies were established in North America (1638) and in Africa (1650). It remained legal until 1813.Sweden had treaties with… …   Wikipedia

  • Swedish overseas colonies — Sweden possessed overseas colonies from 1638 to 1663 and from 1784 to 1878.The former Swedish colonies in Africa were: *Swedish Gold Coast (1650 1663; lost to Denmark and the Dutch) Including the Cape Coast (1649 1663) consisting of the following …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”