ELLIS Global Studies

The Asante Rebellion:

Yaa Asantewaa and the War of the Golden Stool

The Asante were rebelling against the British. They fought many wars because the British tried to control them.

In 1900, the British governor demanded to sit on the Golden Stool. This made the Asante people very angry because the Golden Stool was a symbol of their community.

Yaa Asantewaa organized a rebellion to fight against the British. She wanted to preserve the Golden Stool. Yaa Asantewaa and the Asante people attacked the British. They fought for many months. The British captured Yaa Asantewaa and forced her to live on an island far from Ghana.

The British won the battles, but the Asante people never gave up the stool. For this reason, the Asante people claim victory.

Women were very important in Asante society. Children inherited property and government titles from the mother.

Also, women made the final decisions in the Asante community. The Asante people believed that women kept all the knowledge and treasures of the community.

The Golden Stool was important to the Asante people. The stool was presented to each new king.

The stool was a symbol of political power, unity, and it represented the spirit of the Asante people.

The Anglo-Asante wars were wars between the British and the Asante people between 1823 and 1900. There were four wars. The British and the Asante fought about control of the land.

The results of the wars were:

First Anglo-Asante War (1823 – 1831): Treaty and 30 years of peace

Second Anglo-Asante War (1863 – 1864): Asante defeat the British

Third Anglo-Asante War (1873 – 1874): British defeat the Asante

Fourth Anglo-Asante War (1895 -1896): British defeat the Asante

The Asante and other African people wanted independence. Kwame Nkrumah, a political leader in Ghana, organized strikes and protests.

The people of Ghana proposed independence to the British. On March 6, 1957, the British government agreed to independence. Ghana was the first African state to have independence.