ashanti traded gold and slaves to build the asante kingdom.
who traded gold and slaves to build the asante kingdom?
ashanti
the prisoners trekked through kwahu/tafo and bokuruwa, a rocky terrain characterized by chiselled basalt. the group stopped in abetifi for two days for a brief respite. at abetifi, they were warmly received by the paramount chief and the townsfolk. on arrival at their final destination, kumasi, they were allocated a former methodist station for lodging. they were treated with respect by the asantehene, otumfuo kofi karikari who periodically sent the political prisoners the occasional sheep, food items and gold dust equivalent to £9 when the asantehene celebrated the "adae" festivals bi-weekly. on 12 january 1871, ramseyer celebrated the adae festival where he paid his respect to the third court of the palace. the asante stool gave the captives a parcel of land for farming. the asantehene realised that bonnat and ramseyer had the technical knowhow in advanced building technology and used them to construct stone lodges. some scholars have posited that the asante king must have realised that the missionaries were not mercenaries trading in ammunition to enemy states of the asante. the basel mission policy did not allow its agents to sell arms. the european hostages were used as political pawns in the anglo-ashanti impasse. though the british governor attempted to negotiate their freedom, he was hindered by the fact that the missionaries were not british subjects. secondly, they were captured in commune east of the volta river which was under german rule at the time. the asante kingdom proposed a ransom of £2000 and later reduced the fee to £1000. ramseyer rejected this option since in his view, paying a ransom in exchange for their freedom "“would only reinforce the immoral habit of abducting people for ransom.”" the negotiations stalled for almost half-a-decade. however, the asante permitted them to preach on a limited basis and start an infant school.
fritz ramseyer
a political situation in 1896 necessitated the return of fritz ramseyer to kumasi. this was twenty-two years after he had been released from captivity. the asante stool represented by the asantehene, otumfuo agyemang prempeh i, owed the british crown five thousand ounces of gold, as part of the treaty of fomena, after it lost one of the anglo-asante wars. british soldiers were advancing towards kumasi to intimidate the asantehene. among other demands, the british wanted the asante kingdom to become a british protectorate under the gold coast colony. prempeh remembered fritz ramseyer and requested that his services as an arbiter in the impasse. however, the british troops had by then stormed kumasi. the asantehene, the queen mother and royal courtiers were captured and taken into exile at the elmina castle and later to the seychelles. in the aftermath, the colonial forces built a fortress in the asante capital. the british governor granted the ramseyers permission to settle in kumasi and build a mission station.
fritz ramseyer