Download or read book The Impact of British Rule Upon the Gold Coast Economy written by Ian Bullock and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1901 uirixl 1957 the component areas of the Gold Coast - Ashanti, the Northern Territories and the Colony - were administered by the United Kingdom as a single colonial unit. In addition to providing a political framework for the development of nationalism and, ultimatelj^, the modern state of Ghana, British rule also influenced the local economy. The present study is concerned with tracing the political impact of Great Britain upon the Gold Coast economy, during the colonial period. Although there is good reason to believe that the original annexations were inspired by the possibility of economic advantages accruing to the metropolitan country, there is little evidence to support the view that deliberate ? exploitation 9 followed the establishment of British rule. On the other hand it is clear, in retrospect, that the policies adopted by the local Administration and the imperial Government were not always in the best interests of the Gold Coast. In particular, it was not until after 1945 that any serious attempts were made to counteract the development of an excessive dependence upon external trade. World War II was in many ways a critically importa nt period for the Gold Coast. By 1945 the political objective of self-government for colonial territories had been accepted by Great Britain, and the state was believed to occupy a more important economic role than had previously been allowed, The war-time expedients of state-marketing and various government controls over the economy were retained in British West Africa after 1945 - in addition, the governments of the four colonies undertook a number of new development projects, particularly in the industrial field. The prominence of public enterprise was one of the more significant colonial legacies bequeathed to the new state of Ghana in 1957-