Date of Graduation
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
History
Advisor/Mentor
Todd Cleveland, Todd
Committee Member
Banton, Caree
Second Committee Member
Sparks, Leigh
Third Committee Member
Phillips, Jared
Abstract
In this thesis, I examine the ways that the government of Great Britain attempted to create a pro-Western state in Ghana during the decolonization process, which spanned from the Accra Riots in 1948 to the finalization of independence in 1957, with Kwame Nkrumah’s election as president. Since Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain its independence, it provides the initial example illustrating how the British government during the decolonization process in sub-Saharan Africa tried to cultivate states that would align with their interests following independence. To achieve this goal, I will rely on primary sources from the British Foreign Office, Dominions Office, and the Commonwealth Office. Secondary sources will include historical analyses of Ghana’s independence to illustrate the role of the United Kingdom in exercising a form of neocolonial control in Ghana post-independence. An analysis of the evidence demonstrates that the British government sought a degree of control in Ghana in the years following independence. Furthermore, this work seeks to establish the United Kingdom’s trend of westernizing future independence processes for other British territories throughout Africa and elsewhere in its expansive empire. By examining the United Kingdom’s role in decolonizing the first sub-Saharan African nation to achieve independence, it becomes clear that Britain attempted to reapply this approach to other decolonizing nations. This research does not seek to take an original position on either Ghanaian independence or its significance in African affairs. Rather, this work seeks to apply paradigms previously identified by historians to new regions. Previous historians’ work on evaluating the importance of Ghana’s independence will be used to illustrate the effect impact the new nation had on the rest of the continent. Engaging with this scholarship is important since it further highlights the pro-Western positions that former British territories in West Africa assumed following independence.
Keywords
Africa; Decolonization; Ghana; Gold Coast
Citation
Michener, S. H. (2025). Building Neocolonial Foundations: The British Government and the Decolonization of the Gold Coast, 1948-1957. History Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/histuht/21
