Swedish Gold Coast
Swedish Gold Coast Cabo Corso Svenska Guldkusten | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1650–1658 1660–1663 | |||||||||||||
Swedish Gold Coast (Ghana) | |||||||||||||
Status | Colony of the Swedish Africa Company | ||||||||||||
Capital | Fort Christiansborg | ||||||||||||
Common languages | Swedish | ||||||||||||
Administrator | |||||||||||||
• 1650–1655 | Henrik Carloff | ||||||||||||
• 1655–1658 | J. F. von Krusenstierna | ||||||||||||
• 1658–1662 | Occupation | ||||||||||||
• 1662–1663 | Tönnies Voss | ||||||||||||
Historical era | Colonial period | ||||||||||||
• Established | 22 April 1650 | ||||||||||||
• Partial Danish capture | 27 January 1658 | ||||||||||||
• Partial Dutch occupation | Mar 1659 – Dec 1660 | ||||||||||||
• Futu occupation (on Swedish behalf) | Dec 1660 – Dec 1662 | ||||||||||||
• Dutch capture | 22 April 1663 | ||||||||||||
22 July 1667 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Today part of | Ghana Togo |
The Swedish Gold Coast (Swedish: Svenska Guldkusten) was a colony of the Swedish Africa Company founded in 1650 by Hendrik Carloff on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana 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.
History
[edit]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)[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-Norway.[citation needed] 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 on his own, and had disappeared with the gold to Angola.
Later on, the local population started a successful uprising against their new masters, and in December 1660, the King of the Akan people 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.[2][3] Swedish claims to the colony were later formally relinquished in the 1667 Treaty of Breda.
Geography
[edit]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 then Ghana. 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.
The colony consisted of the following fortifications and trading posts (factories).
Place in Ghana | Fort name | Founded/ Occupied |
Ceded | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cape Coast, Central Region | Fort Carlsborg | 1650, 1660 |
1658, 1663 |
Also known as Carolusborg and Cape Coast Castle. Under Swedish administration 22 April 1650 – January/February 1658, and again 10 December 1660 – 22 April 1663. |
Anomabu, Central region | Fort William | 1650 | 1657 | Also known as Annamabo |
Butri near Sekondi-Takoradi, Western region | Fort Batenstein | 1650 | 1656 | Also known as Batensteyn |
Osu, Ghana in Accra | Fort Christiansborg | 1652 | 1658 | Headquarter. Also known as Fort Frederiksborg and Osu Castle. Captured by the Danes in 1658. |
Sekondi-Takoradi, Western region | Fort Witsen | 1653 | 1658 | Also known as Taccorari |
Beyin, Western region | Fort Apollonia | 1655 | 1657 |
The following factories were also held:
- Gemoree Factory
- Accara Factory
Colonial heads
[edit]Each of the three Swedish administrators had a different gubernatorial title:
- Director: Hendrik Carloff, 22 April 1650 – 1655
- Governor: Johann Philipp von Krusenstjerna (son of Philipp Crusius), 1655 – 27 January 1658
- Danish occupation: 27 January 1658 – Mar 1659
- Dutch occupation: Mar 1659 – 10 December 1660
- Futu occupation (nominally Swedish): 10 December 1660 – 1662
- Commander: Tönnies Voss 16 March 1662 – 22 April 1663
References
[edit]- ^ (in German) Baltic nobility genealogy handbook Governor Johan Filip von Krusenstierna family
- ^ "Svenska kolonin Cabo Corso i Västafrika 1649 – 1663" (in Swedish). Hans Högmans Släktforskning. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- ^ "Kolonin Cabo Corso 1649–1658" (in Swedish). Historiesajten. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
Sources
[edit]
- Former colonies in Africa
- Former Swedish colonies
- 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