Indeed, in the 1920s it had been taken over by the equally elitist but broader-based and more radical NCBWA, which sought to bring about a fundamental change in colonial rule. He also proposed that native tribunals should be given a definite and well-defined place in the judicial structure. It is the aim of the foundation set by his descendants is to promote educational scholarships and digitally archived the works of the late John Mensah Sarbah. These newspapers, read by the African intelligentsia and Europeans, including government officials, in the Gold Coast, were used as political platforms to call attention to African demands. /Length 296 These cookies do not store any personal information. He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The statue of Queen Victoria at Victoria park in Cape Coast is a sign of treaty between ARPS and the British Government to abandon the Lands Bill. de Graft-Johnson, Jacob Wilson Sey, J. P. Brown, J. E. Casely Hayford, and John Mensah Sarbah were co-founders. September 4, 1887: Arrival of John Mensah Sarbah, first Ghanaian called to the English Bar, September 7, 1817: Anglo-Ashanti Treaty signed between Osei Bonsu and African Company of Merchants, September 1, 1966: The National Liberation Council (NLC) establishes a commission to propose a new constitution. He was eventually honored with the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1910, months before he suddenly died at the age of 46. [9] In 1903, Sarbah and William Edward Sam promoted an enterprise called the Fanti Public Schools Limited and Sarbah also helped establish the Fanti National Education Fund, which aimed to improve educational facilities in the country and awarded scholarships. On his return to the Gold Coast, he became a leading critic of British Imperial rule. 0 M i 8 0 R E R _ = R R D Q endstream << Although he accepted the basic assumptions of the British imperial regime, he felt that some of the evils of the crown colony system should be checked. He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. He attended Cape Coast Wesleyan School (later to be renamed Mfantsipim) and completed his secondary education at the Taunton School in Somerset, England. endobj Crises and Transitions in African Historiography (1950-1990), Essential History Primary 5 Teacher's Guide, [Ghanabib 1819 1979 Prepared 23/11/2011] [Ghanabib 1980 1999 Prepared 30/12/2011] [Ghanabib 2000 2005 Prepared 03/03, The Politics of Educational Borrowing: Reopening the Case of Achimota in British Ghana Author(S): Gita SteinerKhamsi and Hubert O, Migration from Historic Mission Churches to Pentecostal Churches in Ghana by REV, Singapore in Global History Singaporederek Heng Is Assistant Professor at the History in Singapore in Department, Ohio State University, Nationalism in Question: a Study of Key Categories in Ghanaian History 1863-1965, Colonialism, Maritime Culture and Conflict in Southern Gold Coast, 18601932, KWAME NKRUMAHS CONTRIBUTION to PAN-AFRICANISM an Afrocentric Analysis D.Zizwe Poe, Resource Flows and Technology Adoption in Tamale, Ghana: Implications for Urban and Peri-Urban Vegetable Growers. Despite this inability to create their own pan-African conference, the Gold Coast ARPS in 1912 participated in a pan-African conference at what is now Tuskegee University. [10], The impact of the Gold Coast ARPS' interaction with global pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist movements rested on the ability of these interactions to not only bring the grievances of the Gold Coast natives to the global stage but also to help the Gold Coast ARPS gain leverage with which to lobby the colonial government in Gold Coast to recognize the legitimacy of their cultural nationalist and political aims. When Governor Sir William Maxwell (term of office 1895-97) refused to withdraw the bill, John Mensah Sarbah advised the ARPS to send a delegation to England to petition against its passage. The ARPS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened the traditional system of African land tenure, and sent Sarbah to argue against its passage in the Legislative Council. By his publications he began the tradition of educated nationalist politicians finding time to write about their countrys history and institutions. Another consequence of the Gold Coast ARPS' interaction with other global movements was the attainment of knowledge about how successful African domination of colonial rule could take place. << /N 3 III, 1903. Email: henrydonsco@gmail.com He was also the first African from the Gold Coast to be called to the Bar. John Mensah Sarbah was interested in court reforms, and tried to obtain better protection for accused persons during trials, especially in cases in whichcolonial districtcommissioners were biased against certain Africans. John Mensah Sarbah was born on Friday, 3 June 1864, in Anomabu, in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. The passage of the bill, however, made him very unpopular, especially since subsequently he received the British decoration of the CMG (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George), an honor some thought that he had sought, though he denied it. The influence of this conference on the members of the Gold Coast ARPS was a renewed belief that, eventually, the indigenous African peoples would be able to successfully rise up against the European colonial powers that had ruled over them for centuries and begin to govern themselves. He was responsible for various initiatives, including the founding of a Dutton scholarship at Taunton School in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. Among other things, the ARPS hoped to make sure that various bills and colonial policies involving taxation, labor, and constitutional changes would not burden the Africans. John Mensah Sarbah was one of the most prominent nationalists of the Gold Coast in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. He was the first African barrister from the then Gold Coast. But the chief justice did not accept the proposal, and in this respect matters have not improved much since Sarbahs day, in spite of the fact that all judges are now Africans. /H [ 1010 368 ] /T 51995 << The activities of the ARPS were not always an all-male affair. Content created and supplied by: Royalvibes (via Opera These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. /Font << /F13 26 0 R /F19 32 0 R /F25 38 0 R /F31 44 0 R >> As a lawyer, Sarbah was interested in spreading knowledge of Fante laws and of the Fante Constitution. Crises and Transitions in African Historiography (1950-1990), Essential History Primary 5 Teacher's Guide, [Ghanabib 1819 1979 Prepared 23/11/2011] [Ghanabib 1980 1999 Prepared 30/12/2011] [Ghanabib 2000 2005 Prepared 03/03, The Politics of Educational Borrowing: Reopening the Case of Achimota in British Ghana Author(S): Gita SteinerKhamsi and Hubert O, Migration from Historic Mission Churches to Pentecostal Churches in Ghana by REV, Singapore in Global History Singaporederek Heng Is Assistant Professor at the History in Singapore in Department, Ohio State University, Nationalism in Question: a Study of Key Categories in Ghanaian History 1863-1965, Colonialism, Maritime Culture and Conflict in Southern Gold Coast, 18601932, KWAME NKRUMAHS CONTRIBUTION to PAN-AFRICANISM an Afrocentric Analysis D.Zizwe Poe, Resource Flows and Technology Adoption in Tamale, Ghana: Implications for Urban and Peri-Urban Vegetable Growers. He also proposed that native tribunals should be given a definite and well-defined place in the judicial structure. /Size 51 0000021313 00000 n Members of the hall are known as Vikings as a reference to him who is a true Viking for his country. It has emerged that he was a business man par excellence who groomed his late fathers business in agriculture and mining merchandise in the Gold Coast era. As a legislator he was interested in law reform, and tried his best to prevent the passage of laws inimical to the interests of his countrymen. This was vigorously implemented in 1907 with the passing of the Timber Protection Ordinance which sought to prevent the cutting of saplings. In 1892 his father died, arid he also took over his fattiers business. ". 1864-1910 /Filter [/FlateDecode ] [5] The Gold Coast ARPS became a voice for the rights of indigenous peoples by both broadcasting their aims in their own newspaper, Gold Coast Aborigines, and advocating on behalf of indigenous land rights by presenting the reasons for their dissent of the Lands Bill of 1897 in front of the Legislative Council. . The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (The Revelation), Education in Africa: The Impact of Colonialism, Why The Legendary Geneva Bible was Banned. B. Danquah. /ProcSet [/PDF /Text] He was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council by the governor, Sir Mathew Nathan (term of office, 1900-04), in 1901, and sat, except for a short break, as a member until his death. Site redesigned by Alex Mayfield (2017 and 2019). Call: +233558280780, Your email address will not be published. /Info 21 0 R Opera News does not consent to nor does it condone the posting of any content that violates the rights (including the copyrights) of any third party, nor content that may malign, inter alia, any religion, ethnic group, organization, gender, company, or individual. [10] The Gold Coast ARPS's interest in the affairs of people of colour abroad was predicated on the notion of the salience of race beyond the confines of an African context and the global prevalence of racial discrimination. He therefore published two books, Fanti Customary Laws (1897), and Fanti National Constitution (1906). John Mensah Sarbah was born on Friday, 3 June 1864, in Anomabu, in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. A notable aspect of the delegation is that it included not only members of the Gold Coast elite, but also "prominent merchants". He was interested in promoting agriculture, and wrote an article on The Oil Palm and Its Products in 1909. [6], The formation of the Gold Coast ARPS came at a period during the late 19th century in which the educated Gold Coast elite were systematically barred from high-ranking positions in the colonial government. On his return home, Sarbah, who was generally known as Kofi Mensah, built up a lucrative practice. 0000034111 00000 n 0000029963 00000 n Most significantly, in 1898 it sent a delegation, including President Jacob Wilson Sey and other prominent members, such as T. F. E. Jones and George Hughes, to England to meet directly with British officials to discuss problems of colonial rule, especially the Lands Bill. He compiled and published Fanti Law Reports in 1904, but this was incomplete because he was refused permission to take any more notes from court records. 0000000017 00000 n The idea of forming the society had been incubated as early as 1895, but was shelved until May 17, 1897, when a meeting organized by the African intelligentsia in Cape Coast to protest the proposed Lands Bill of 1894 to 1897 culminated in the formation of the society. His Fanti Customary Laws is still regarded as an indispensable book for lawyers in Ghana. 23 0 obj The ARPS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened the traditional system of African land tenure. ARPS successfully defended the interests of native African people against colonizers for decades and began to form an early forum for sentiments of . Born in the Gold Coast in 1864, John Mensah Sarbah qualified as a barrister in London and later became a leading critic of British colonial rule, especially in connection with land ownership. The delegation, which Sarbah refused out of modesty to lead, went to London in 1898, and succeeded in getting the Lands Bill disallowed. He became disillusioned with what he deemed to be injustice in governance from the British Crown toward the Ghanaian people and felt that the actions of the colonial system should be checked. He was born on 3rd June 1864, in Anomabu in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. His suggestion, which was an improvement on the amendment, was not accepted. Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS), The Ahanta kings head that was preserved in a jar at a Dutch Laboratory, Coronavirus declared global health emergency by WHO, How Ghanas 1966 World cup boycott led to Africas inclusion, Furious Mesut Ozil agent explains why classless Arsenal signed Thomas Partey on transfer deadline day, WBA and Brighton race to sign Andre Ayew from Swansea City, Ghana National Anthem sang in All Local Dialect. He himself founded a scholarship at Mfantsipim School and helped to pay the salaries of the staff when the school encountered financial difficulties. In 1897 he worked with JE Casely Hayford, JP Brown, JW de Graft Johnson, and others to form the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS). 0000000908 00000 n At the age of 23, he returned to the Gold Coast to set up a legal practice. /Type /Page some cases thereon decided in the Law Courts) Discover new books on Goodreads See if your friends have read any of John Mensah Sarbah's books Join Goodreads Sarbah House, at Mfantsipim, is named for him. John Mensah Sarbah (June 3, 1864-November 27, 1910), patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gold Coast at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Amazon.com: John Mensah Sarbah: Books 10 results RESULTS Fanti customary laws, a brief introduction to the principles of the native laws and customs of the Fanti and Akan districts of the Gold Coast, with a . /Parent 20 0 R 0000034269 00000 n ", This page was last edited on 17 March 2022, at 16:53. [8] This reclamation of nomenclature influenced the naming of the "Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society," as it was originally conceived as a branch of the Aborigines' Protection Society of London but later renamed so as to serve as its own unique entity with a direct connection to the African continent in general and the Gold Coast in particular. /Resources << There he fought the Native Jurisdiction Bill, which gave Fante chiefs exclusive powers to administer local laws. On the strength of the good reports the school had received, the Wesleyan Mission resumed its management under the principal-ship of the Rev. Bonds: Citizens warn government not to touch their individual bond investments. Mr. Henry Kwadwo Amoako is a Ghanaian Social Scientist, Researcher and Acclaimed Historian for over two decades. >> Indeed, by the first two decades of the twentieth century, the influence of the ARPS was being felt colony-wide as it extended its concerns to cover problems of colonial rule, including forced labor and taxation in Asante and the Northern Territories. /Length 12414 His first act in this direction was to found a Dutton scholarship at Taunton School in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. 0000033565 00000 n B. Danquah. 65, 76. [5] The Gold Coast ARPS eventually fell out of fashion in exchange for newer nationalist movements, such as the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA) in 1920. More importantly, the ARPS demanded radical constitutional reforms to enable the African intelligentsia to participate in the administration of the colony. Early Life Jacob Kwaw Wilson Sey (10 March 1832 - 22 May 1902), also known as Kwaa Bonyi, was a colonial era Fante artisan, farmer, philanthropist, nationalist and the first recorded indigenous multi-millionaire on the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). However, the Gold Coast ARPS was interested not only in the protection of the rights of the native peoples in the Gold Coast but also with the larger global struggles of the African diaspora, including the United States, Europe and the West Indies. He himself founded a scholarship at Mfantsipim School and helped to pay the salaries of the staff when the school encountered financial difficulties. We promise to be discrete. ", "Ghana - Early Manifestations of Nationalism", "Action and Reaction: An Overview of the Ding Dong Relationship between the Colonial Government and the People of Cape Coast", The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities, "This Is Our Land: Land, Policy, Resistance, and Everyday Life in Colonial Southern Ghana, 18947", "Producing a Received View of Gold Coast Elite Society? (His suggestion was to be adopted in 1951.) He therefore helped J. P. Brown, J. W. de Graft Johnson, and others, to form the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS) to watch over the interests of the African population. Opera News furthermore does not condone the use of our platform for the purposes encouraging/endorsing hate speech, violation of human rights and/or utterances of a defamatory nature. W. T. Balmer. [9], John Mensah Sarbah was dedicated to the promotion of secondary education and was responsible for various initiatives, including the founding of a Dutton scholarship at Queen's College, Taunton, in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. He was born at Cape Coast in 1864, and . 0000030045 00000 n The ARPS remained the voice of colonized Africans until its demise in the 1930s. John Mensah Sarbah was one of the pioneers of Ghanaian politics and a distinguished African politician in the Gold Coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s. [4], The Gold Coast ARPS formed as a conglomerate of different groups of intellectuals in Cape Coast and Southern Ghana who sought to protect the traditional land tenure practices of the indigenous Gold Coast peoples from being usurped by the British colonial government. C.F. 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