Military confrontations between Asante and the Fante contribute to the growth of British influence on the Gold Coast.

It was concern about Asante activities on the coast that had compelled the Fante states to sign the Bond of 1844.

In theory, the bond allows the British quite limited judicial powers—the trying of murder and robbery cases only.

Also, the British cannot acquire further judicial rights without the consent of the kings, chiefs, and people of the protectorate.

In practice, however, British efforts to usurp more and more judicial authority are so successful that in the 1850s they consider establishing European courts in place of traditional African ones.

The British, following their defeat of Asante in 1874, proclaim the former coastal protectorate a crown colony as a result of the exercise of ever-expanding judicial powers on the coast and also to ensure that the coastal peoples remain firmly under control.

The Gold Coast Colony, established on July 24, 1874, comprises the coastal areas and extends inland as far as the ill-defined borders of Asante.

British influence over the Gold Coast increases further in 1872 when Britain purchase Elmina Castle, the last of the Dutch forts along the coast.

The Asante, who for years have considered the Dutch at Elmina as their allies, hereby lose their last trade outlet to the sea.

To prevent this loss and to ensure that revenue received from that post continues, the Asante stage their last invasion of the coast in 1873.

After early successes, they finally come up against well-trained British forces who compel hem to retreat beyond the Pra River.

Later attempts to negotiate a settlement of the conflict with the British are rejected by the commander of their forces, Major General Sir Garnet Wolseley.

To settle the Asante problem permanently, the British invade Asante with a sizable military force.

The attack, which is launched in January 1874 by twenty-five hundred British soldiers and large numbers of African auxiliaries, results in the occupation and burning of Kumasi, the Asante capital.

The subsequent peace treaty requires the Asante to renounce any claim to many southern territories.

The Asante also have to keep the road to Kumasi open to trade.

From this point on, Asante power will steadily decline.

The Gold Coast is the region of West Africa which is now Akanland.

The Gold Coast, Slave Coast, and Ivory Coast are named after the resources there.

Early uses of the term refer literally to the coast and not the interior.

It is not until the nineteenth century that the term comes to refer to areas that are far from the coast.

It is to the east of the Ivory Coast and to the west of the Slave Coast.

The first Europeans to arrive at the coast had been the Portuguese in 1471, who had encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial deposits of gold in the soil.

In 1482, the Portuguese had built the Castle of Elmina, the first European settlement on the Gold Coast.

From here they had traded slaves, gold, knives, beads, mirrors, rum and guns.

News of the successful trading had spread quickly, and eventually British, Dutch, Danish, Prussian and Swedish traders arrived as well.

The European traders had built several forts along the coastline.

The Gold Coast had long been a name for the region used by Europeans because of the large gold resources found in the area.

The slave trade has been the principal exchange for many years.

The British Gold Coast had been formed in 1867 when the British government abolishes the African Company of Merchants and seizes privately held lands along the coast.

They also had taken over the remaining interests of other European countries, annexing the Danish Gold Coast in 1850 and the Dutch Gold Coast, including Fort Elmina, in 1872.

Britain has steadily expanded its colony through the invasion of local kingdoms as well, particularly the Ashanti and Fante confederacies.

The Ashanti people, who are the largest ethnic community in the region, had controlled much of the territory before the Europeans arrived and are often in conflict with them.

Four wars, the Anglo-Ashanti Wars, are fought between the Ashanti (Asante) and the British, who are sometimes allied with the Fante.

During the First Anglo-Ashanti War (1863–1864), the two groups had fought because of a disagreement over an Ashanti chief and slavery.

The Third Anglo-Ashanti War lasts from 1873 to 1874.

In 1869 a German missionary family and a Swiss missionary had been taken to Kumasi.

They had been hospitably treated, but a ransom had been required for them.

In 1871, Britain had purchased the Dutch Gold Coast from the Dutch, including Elmina, which is claimed by the Ashanti.

The Ashanti had invaded the new British protectorate.

General Garnet Wolseley, with twenty-five hundred British troops and several thousand West Indian and African troops (including some Fante), had been sent against the Ashanti, and will subsequently become a household name in Britain.

The war is covered by war correspondents, including Henry Morton Stanley and G. A. Henty.

Military and medical instructions are printed for the troops.

The British government refuses appeals to interfere with British armaments manufacturers who sell to both sides.

Wolseley had gone to the Gold Coast in 1873, and made his plans before the arrival of his troops in January 1874.

He fights the Battle of Amoaful on January 31 of that year, and, after five days' fighting, ends with the Battle of Ordashu.

The capital, Kumasi, is abandoned by the Ashanti and is briefly occupied by the British and burned.

The British are impressed by the size of the palace and the scope of its contents, including "rows of books in many languages.”

The Asantahene, the ruler of the Ashanti, signs a harsh British treaty, the Treaty of Fomena, in July 1874, to end the war.

Among articles of the treaty between H.M. Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and H.M. Kofi Karikari, King of Ashanti are that "The King of Ashanti promises to pay the sum of 50,000 ounces of approved gold as indemnity for the expenses he has occasioned to Her Majesty the Queen of England by the late war..."

The treaty also states that "There shall be freedom of trade between Ashanti and Her Majesty's forts on the [Gold] Coast, all persons being at liberty to carry their merchandise from the Coast to Kumasi, or from that place to any of Her Majesty's possessions on the Coast."

Furthermore, the treaty stated that "The King of Ashanti guarantees that the road from Kumasi to the River Pra shall always be kept open..." ("The Treaty with the King of the Ashantees" (11 June 1874) Wanganui Herald, New Zealand, Volume VIII, Issue 2195)

Wolseley completes the campaign in two months, and re-embarks them for home before the unhealthy season begins.

There had been three hundred British casualties.

From this point on, Asante power will steadily decline.

The Asante confederation slowly disintegrates as subject territories break away and as protected regions defect to British rule.

The warrior spirit of the nation is not entirely subdued, however, and enforcement of the treaty leads to recurring difficulties and outbreaks of fighting.

In 1896 the British will dispatch another expedition that will again occupy Kumasi and that will force Asante to become a protectorate of the British Crown.

The position of asantehene will be abolished, and the incumbent will be exiled.

The Asante confederation has slowly disintegrated as subject territories break away and as protected regions defect to British rule.

The warrior spirit of the nation is not entirely subdued, however, and enforcement of the treaty has led to recurring difficulties and outbreaks of fighting.

In 1896 the British dispatch another expedition that again occupies Kumasi and that forces Asante to become a protectorate of the British Crown.

The position of asantehene is abolished, and the incumbent is exiled.