British West African Settlements | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1821–1850 1866–1888 | |||||||||||||
.svg) Flag .svg) Badge | |||||||||||||
| Anthem: God Save the King (1821–1837) God Save the Queen (1837–1850; 1866–1888) | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
| Status | Crown colony | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Freetown | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | English (official) | ||||||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||||||
• 1821–1830 | George IV(first) | ||||||||||||
• 1837–1850; 1866–1888 | Victoria(last) | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Abolitionism New Imperialism | ||||||||||||
• Established | 17 October 1821 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablishment | 13 January 1850 | ||||||||||||
• Second establishment | 19 February 1866 | ||||||||||||
• Final disestablishment | 28 November 1888 | ||||||||||||
| Currency | Pound sterling British West African pound | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of |  The Gambia Ghana Nigeria Sierra Leone Cameroon | ||||||||||||
British West Africa was the collective name forBritish settlements inWest Africa during thecolonial period, either in the general geographical sense or the formal colonial administrative entity. British West Africa as a colonial entity was originally officially known asColony of Sierra Leone and its Dependencies, thenBritish West African Territories and finallyBritish West African Settlements.[1]
TheUnited Kingdom held varying parts of these territories or the whole throughout the 19th century. From west to east, the colonies became the independent countries ofThe Gambia,Sierra Leone,Ghana andNigeria. Until independence, Ghana was referred to as theGold Coast.
British West Africa constituted during two periods (17 October 1821, until its first dissolution on 13 January 1850, and again 19 February 1866, until its final demise on 28 November 1888) as an administrative entity under agovernor-in-chief (comparable in rank to agovernor-general), an office vested in the governor ofSierra Leone (atFreetown).[1]
The other colonies originally included in the jurisdiction werethe Gambia and theBritish Gold Coast (modern Ghana). Also western Nigeria, eastern Nigeria and northern Nigeria were included.[2]
Africa's present makeup includesGhana,Sierra Leone,Gambia,Western Nigeria,Eastern Nigeria andNorthern Nigeria. These countries and areas are artifacts of thepost-colonial period, or what the Ghanaian writerKwame Appiah dubsneo-colonialism.[citation needed]
British West Africa was originally founded at the urging of the prominent abolitionistFowell Buxton, who felt that ending the Atlantic slave trade required some level of British control of the coastline.[3] Development was solely based onmodernization, and autonomous educational systems were the first step to modernising indigenous culture. Cultures and interests of indigenous peoples were ignored. A new social order, as well as European influences within schools and libraries[4] and local traditions, helped mould British West Africa's culture. The British West African colonial school curriculum helped play a role in this. Local elites developed, with new values and philosophies, who changed the overall cultural development.[5]
Even after its final dissolution, a single currency, theBritish West African pound, was in effect throughout the region—including Nigeria—from 1907 to 1962.[6]
Nigeria gained independence in 1960. Sierra Leone was self-governing by 1958 and gained independence in 1961. Gambia gained independence in 1965. In 1954, the British Gold Coast was allowed by Britain to self-govern and in 1957, the Gold Coast was given independence from Britain, under the name Ghana.[7]
Media related toBritish West Africa at Wikimedia Commons
