Swedish Gold Coast
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The Swedish Gold Coast was a Swedish colony founded in 1650 on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana in West Africa.
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[edit] Geography
The colony was actually only consisting of a few settlements 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.
The colony consisted of fortifications and trading posts (factories):
- Fort Carlsborg (also Carolusborg and Cape Coast Castle)
present Cape Coast, Centralregion, under Swedish administration 22 April 1650 - January/February 1658, 10 December 1660- 22 April 1663.
- Fort William (also Annamabo)
present Anomabu, Central region, under Swedish administration 1650 - 1657
- Fort Batenstein (also Batensteyn)
present Butri near Sekondi-Takoradi, Western region, under Swedish administration 1650 - 1656
- Fort Christiansborg (also Fort Frederiksborg and Osu Castle)
present Osu, Ghana in Accra, headquarters, under Swedish administration 1652 - 1658
- Fort Witsen (also Taccorari)
present Sekondi-Takoradi, Western region, under Swedish administration 1653 - 1658
present Benyin, Western region, under Swedish administration 1655-1657
- Gemoree Factory
- Accara Factory
[edit] Colonial Heads
Each of the three Swedish administrators had a different gubernatorial title:
- Director: Henrik Carloff, 22 April 1650 - 1656
- Governor: Johan Filip von Krusenstierna, 1656 - February 1658, 1659 - 1660
- Commander: Tönnies Voss, 16 - 22 April 1663
[edit] History
Following the foundation of the Swedish Africa Company in 1649 an expedition under the command of Henrik Carloff was send to Africa in 1650. Carloff made a treaty with the 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 1656 Johan Filip von Krusenstierna 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. After the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660 Cabo Corso was to be returned to Swedish administration: However it then was revealed that Carloff's associate Schmidt already on his own had sold the colony in march 1659 to the Netherlands and had disappeared with the money.
Later on the local population started a successful uprising against their new masters and in December 1660 the King of Futu again offered Sweden to take control over the area. A new expedition was send 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 again were seized by the Dutch after a long defense under the Swedish commander Tönnies Voss.
On 9 May 1664 the area again was seized, this time by the British who made it part of the British Gold Coast colony.
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