Portuguese 1482-1637

Netherlands 1637-1872

Britain 1872-1957

The Portuguese held their Guinea Coast monopoloy on the trade of gold and slaves from 1482, when Elmina was constructed, until the Dutch conquest in 1637. Since Elmina served as headquarters for Portuguese trade in Africa, it was considered one of the most important possessions of the empire. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

Portuguese staff at Elmina consisted of a Governor with ten subordinants, a factor with four subordinants, two clerks, an apothecary, a surgeon, a smith, a cooper, an overseer of provisions, various stonemasons, carpenters, a few priests and approximately 20-60 soldiers. In 1486, the Portuguese government bestowed the surrounding villiage of Sao Jorge with the status of city. Afterwhich, a wall was erected around its perimeter. The Portuguese built a chapel on a hill near the castle in 1503 and used it until 1596.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

"When Azambuja established Castelo de Sao Jorge da Mina, only 63 Europeans remained with him. Throughout the Portuguese period the number was never larger than this and was often much smaller. In 1615 the Portuguese garrison was reduced to 25 men, and at the time of the Dutch takeover there were only 35....The most important personages, such as the commander, would have been people of some prominence, yet the varied qualifications of the Mina commanders in terms of their age, experience, and careers are striking. The majority were drawn from the lower nobility. However, others in the early Portuguese company were likely convicts, or degredados, sentenced to exile in Mina." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.35-36)

Portuguese trade with local tribes consisted of gold, ivory, sugar, wax, pepper, hides, and of course slaves. The surrounding Akan, Wassaw, Commany, and Efutu tribes established cordial trading relations for the duration of Portuguese occupation.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

"A 1572 Portuguese report on Elmina discusses how it is unfitting for any of the African rulers to be referred to as kings: '[I]t may seem that nothing is lost by permiting this, yet it is very important, since when one of these blacks is called 'king,' or wants to be called 'king,' he then thinks that being king of Cumani or king of Afuto, which are villages of not more than one hundred huts or shacks, is the same as being king of Portugal, which is a kingdom worthy of the name." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.40)

"Beginning with the earliest Portuguese visits, there were attempts to convert the local population to Christianity....Priests served at the garrison, and several churches or chapels were built in Elmina, the earliest dating back to the founding of Castelo de Sao Jorge da Mina." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.179)

"The palpal ban on the trading of firearms to non-Christians was lifted in 1481 to allow the Portuguese to offer them to African allies." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.168)

"By order of King John III, a school was established at Elmina as early as 1529 to teach reading, writing, and the holy scriptures to the children." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.149)

"A significant feature of the European population was the small number of European women. Only three remained with the original Portuguese garrison, and there was never a significant number. A regimento, or set of regulations, set down for the outpost in 1529 listed four women, who were required to cook, nurse, and, for a set fee, provide sexual services to the men....Consequently, beginning early on in European-African interactions, European men relied on African women for domestic and marital relations. Though it is difficult to determine their numbers, mulattos were already recognized as a distinct segment of the population during the sixteenth century....Writing on the Portuguese treatment of mulatto women in 1602, Pieter de Marees noted: 'They maintain these Wives in grand style and keep them in splendid clothes, and they always dress more ostentatiously and stand out more than any other Indigenous women. They can be easily recognized , for they shave the hair on their heads very short, just as do the Men, which is not the habit of the other Women; and they also have far more ornaments on their cloths and all over their bodies, a habit which the other women do not have either.' The Portuguese mulatto population was of sufficient importance that special permission was obtained for them to accompany the Portuguese garrison to Sao Tome following the 1637 surrender, although at least 200 appear to have remained in Elmina under the Dutch." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.36-37)

On September 7, 1606, the Dutch made their first attempt at bombardment. The failed seige consisted of about 600 Dutch soldiers disembarking at Moure and storming toward the castle. Portuguese Governor Dom Cristovao de Melo ambused the Dutch troops and after a two hour of fight, the Dutch retreated. Subsequent failed attacks launced by the Dutch occurred in December 1606 and January 1607. After the fortress walls and one bastion of the castle was damaged in a 1615 earthquake, the Dutch launched three more failed attacks.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

In 1625, Dutch Admiral Jan Dirickszon Lam lead a squadron of 15 ships, 1,200 Dutch soldiers and 150 African allies, to Elmina for battle. Only 56 Portuguese with African allies, lead by Portuguese Governor Dom Francisco Sotomaior were stationed at Elmina. On October 25, the Dutch bombarded the castle and proceeded to march on the town. With masterful assistance from African warriors, the Portuguese sucessfully ambushed the Dutch, and caused such panic that about 500 Dutch soldiers were abandoned on the battlefield.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

In August 1637, another Dutch squadron, of 9 ships and 800 men, and 1,000-1,400 African allies formed three batalions and stormed the castle.On August 26, the Dutch seized unprotected hill of Santiago and shelled the castle. As a result, the Portuguese surrended after days of Dutch fire. On August 29, the Dutch took control of Elmina leaving 175 men to hold the fort. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

Jan Pranger, "governor of the Gold Coast." In the background, an African servant. Through the window, in the distance, fort Coenraadsburgh is visible. Painting by Frans van der Mijn, 1742

African soldier with his children, lithography by Auguste Pers 1851), KITLV collection

After more than 150 years of Portuguese control, the Dutch monopolized trade on the Gold Coast by seizure of Elmina in 1637. In 1645, Dutch personal at Elmina and Conraadsburg consisted of 83 men and 184 slaves who working in the castle. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

"The size of the European community increased during the Dutch period, reflecting both the greater importance of Elmina as a trading center and the increasing competition on the coast. Figures for the seventeenth century suggest a European garrison at Elmina of over 100. During the eighteenth century the Gold Coast staff ranged from as many as 377 in 1728 to a low of 138 in 1757, generally averaging over 175 men." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.36)

Under command of the Dutch, Elmina became headquarters for the West India Company. Dutch interaction with Elminans was amicable and many traders established longterm relationships with African or Euro-African women which resulted in offspring. (Everts, Natalie, Cherchez la femme : gender-related issues in eighteenth-century Elmina, Itinerario: (1996) http://www.ama.africatoday.com/elmina.htm

"There were formal marriages between Dutch men and Elmina women, but these were sufficiently uncommon in the early eighteenth century that the permission of the Dutch director general was sought. Dutch officers and merchants, however, frequently maintained common-law wives, and there were children from these unions. In 1700 the director general and members of the council decreed that Dutch men having children out of wedlock would be required either to take their offspring back to Holland or to provide 'a proper sum for honest maintenance and Christian education.' It was further agreed that a communal house would be built in Elmina for all such children to be brought at the age of five or six years, where they would be separated from both the Africans and the Europeans. Here they were educated in the art of letters, the foundation of economics, and some crafts, as well as in the making of plantations....Some descendants of Elmina women and Dutch men were granted special status. This group was known as the vrijburgers, which can be translated from Dutch as 'free citizens' or 'free people,' and they were given the rights and privileges afforded by Dutch law." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.37)

"Education was also considered important during the Dutch period. In the 1740s a school at Elmina was established by Jacobus Capitein, an African educated in Holland. At the time of Capitein's death, the school had over 400 male and female students." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.149)

The Dutch paid rent to the local rulers of the Denkyera and Asante for their occupation of the castle. Aside from the children they fathered with local women, the Dutch contributed significantly to the arsinals of local tribes who in turn fueled wars with neighbours. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Dutch solidified their partnership with the Asante through payment of rents and presents. The local economies were fully supported by trading which originated from Elmina Castle. Such commerce mainly consisted of farming, fishing and salt-making. (Arhin, Kwame (ed.) The Cape Coast and Elmina Handbook: Past, present and future, Inst. of African Studies, University of Ghana, 1995) http://www.ama.africatoday.com/elmina.htm

"Proselytizing during the Dutch period was equally, if not more erradic....Willem Bosman, the chief factor at Elmina in the late seventeenth century and a key figure in Elmina-Dutch relations, disparaged the possibility of converting the Africans to Christianity." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.179)

In 1739, the normally peaceful Elminan-Dutch relations became violent. On May 26 or 27, Director General de Bordes refused to permit seabound Elminan fishing canoes to leave the Benya River. He also ordered West India Company slaves to seize any food shipments arriving by sea. The Elminans demanded an explanation from the general but were given none. After they were expelled from the castle, violence erupted. (Feinberg, H.M., An incident in Elmina-Dutch relations, the Gold Coast (Ghana), 1739-1740 African Historical Studies: (1970)) http://www.ama.africatoday.com/elmina.htm

Another violent episode involved the murder of Dutch governor Hoogenboom in 1808. Apparently, the Dutch-inhabitants of Elmina Castle committed some crime against king Wassaw's Elimans and to the shock and consternation of the Dutch, they accosted the governor one night at his pool table and murdered him in some grizzly fashion. (Hutton, William, A voyage to Africa, London, 1821) http://www.ama.africatoday.com/elmina.htm

The Dutch dominationed the Akan gold trade and this lucrative business drove the expansion of their West African presence. Further motivation for expansion was to stock plantations with West African slaves. In 1734, free Dutch traders severed the West Indian Company's monopoly on the slave trade and forts were opened to free market trading. This event triggered the termination of the company's direct involvement in the trade, asside from providing adminstrative oversight. Independent companies such as the Middelburgsche Commercie Compagne became major factors in supplying Dutch plantations with slave labor. From 1754 until the castle was sold to the British in 1872, West Indian Company employees were permitted to engage in private trade while simultaneously performing their administrative duties. At the peak of Dutch control of Elmina in the 1760s, at least 70,000 slaves were transported from Elmina's port during that decade. The annual average in the 1770s for slave exports fell to approximately 4,900. (Yarak, Larry W, Asante and the Dutch 1744-1873 Clarendon Press Oxford 1990) http://www.ama.africatoday.com/elmina.htm

"Sale to Britain was considered in 1850s. When rumors that the Dutch might abandon Elmina reached the coast, the chiefs of the settlement sent a long letter to the Dutch king. The document emphasized Elmina's many years of service to the Dutch and, actually, began the town's history with the Dutch capture of the castle in 1637. This move is not surprising considering Elmina's past. Elmina had frequently fought with the Dutch against the British and their African allies, including the Fante. Now these antagonists were to control the castle. The sale did not proceed for reason that probably have less to do with the Elmina petition than with the continued hope of economic return. Both Britain and the Netherlands were by this time claiming jurisdiction over adjacent settlements and territories. The limits of British and Dutch territories were, however, ill defined, and there were constant disagreements about the extent of jurisdiction. In attempt to resolve these differences and consolidate territory, an exchange was agreed on in 1867. English forts west of the mouth of the Sweet or Kakum River (between Elmina and Cape Coast) were ceded to the Dutch, and Dutch forts to the east became British....When the transfer to the British was effected in 1872, much of the Elmina population refused to recognize the British authority. The situation reached a crisis in June 1873, when the Asante moved to the coast, defeating the Fante. Dutch, and hence Elmina's, trade alliances had long been with the Asante. Britain, on the other hand, had actively encouraged Fante independence from Asante. The British responded to the Elmina insurrection by proclaiming martial law and ordering the surrender of all arms at the castle....On June 13, 1873, the 'disaffected' portion of town, lying immediately in front of the castle, was surrounded. At about 12:00 noon, after several ultimatums went unanswered, the British 'opened fire with artillery all round the disaffected quarter for the purpose of destroying the town.' The town was shortly in flames, and the attack was discontinued until about a quarter of an hour. No one was killed in the bombardment of the town, a number of armed Elmina soldiers having escaped westward along the peninsula and many women and children having taken shelter in the castle. Over 200 Asante, however, later died in fighting near the town." (Christopher DeCorse, An Archaeology of Elmina, 2001, p.30-31)

"A unique aspect of Elmina's history was the abandonment of the old town after the 1873 bombardment. Many of the people fled prior to the British attack, leaving the settlement deserted....No rebuilding was allowed on the peninsula after 1873....The area in front of the castle was filled with rubble and leveled for use as a parade ground, first by the British military and later by the Gold Coast police force and the Ghana police." (Christopher DeCorse, An Archaeology of Elmina, 2001, p.40)