Independence of Ghana

Date

6 March 1957

Category

Politics & governance

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana)

Era

Contemporary

Significance

On 6 March 1957 the Gold Coast became the independent state of Ghana, the first sub-Saharan African colony to win majority-rule independence from a European power.

The new nation was led by Kwame Nkrumah and his Convention People's Party, which had built mass support through campaigns of 'positive action', strikes and electoral victories. Nkrumah, who had served as prime minister under colonial supervision since 1952, became Ghana's first prime minister and a leading global advocate of Pan-Africanism and African unity. The independence celebrations in Accra drew worldwide attention and prominent international guests. Ghana's success demonstrated that African self-rule was achievable and inspired nationalist movements across the continent, helping to set the stage for the rapid decolonisation of the following years. Ghana became a republic in 1960 with Nkrumah as president and was an early driving force behind the Organisation of African Unity, established in 1963.

Empires active in 6 March 1957

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE – 1991 CE
• French Colonial Empire (Second)
  1830 CE – 1962 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE – 1997 CE
• Spanish Empire
  1492 CE – 1976 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE – 1999 CE
• Solomonic dynasty
  1270 CE – 1974 CE

Related politics & governance events

• Construction of the Berlin Wall
  13 August 1961
• Founding of the People's Republic of China
  1 October 1949
• Establishment of Apartheid in South Africa
  1948
• Independence and Partition of British India
  14–15 August 1947
• Iranian Revolution
  January–February 1979
• Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika
  1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)

Further reading

The Ethiopians: A History

The wider story

The Ethiopians: A History

Richard Pankhurst

Standard general history of Ethiopia and its dynasties.

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