Elmina Castle Totally Explained

Everything about Elmina Castle totally explained

Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as São Jorge da Mina (St. George of the Mine Castle, also known simply as Mina or Feitoria da Mina) in present-day Elmina, Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast). It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, so is the oldest European building in existence below the Sahara. First established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Dutch seized the fort from the Portuguese in 1637, and took over all the Portuguese Gold Coast in 1642. The slave trade continued under the Dutch until 1871 when the fort became a possession of the British Empire. Britain granted the Gold Coast its independence in 1957, and control of the castle was transferred to the nation formed out of the colony, present-day Ghana. Today it's a popular historical site. The castle is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Elmina before the Portuguese

The people living along the West African coast at Elmina around the fifteenth century were presumably Fante. The Fante ethnicity bears an uncertain relationship to "Akan," itself a word connoting conquest and warfare. Among their ancestors were merchants and miners trading gold into the Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds from medieval times. The ancestors of the Akan-speakers of the forests however undoubtedly came from north of the the forest.
The tribal people on the West African coast were organized into numerous small chiefdoms that were drawn according to kinship lines. Family was extremely important in society. Family heads were united in communities under a recognized chief. Along the Gold Coast alone, more than twenty independent kingdom-states existed. Elmina lay between two different Fante kingdoms, Fetu and Eguafo. While there was a relative degree of interstate rivalry, tribes generally intermingled freely. Trade between chiefdoms was important for the economy. The coastal people also had strong trade relations with the Sudanese empire to the north.
West Africans nurtured ancient connections to other parts of the world. Common metals trade, iconic artistic forms, and agricultural borrowing show that trans-Saharn and regional coastal connections thrived. The Portuguese in 1471 were the first Europeans to "discover" the Gold Coast as such, but not necessarily the first sailors to reach the port.

Portuguese arrival

The Portuguese first reached what became known as the Gold Coast in 1471. Prince Henry the Navigator first sent ships to explore the African coast in 1418. The Portuguese had several motives to voyage south. They were attracted by rumors of fertile African land that was rich in gold and ivory. They also sought a Southern route to India so as to evade Arab traders and establish direct trade with the East. In line with the strong religious sentiments of the time, another focus of the Portuguese was Christian evangelization. They also sought to form an alliance with the legendary Prestor John, who was believed to be the leader of a great Christian nation somewhere in Africa.
These motives prompted the Portuguese to form the Guinea Trade. They made gradual progress down the African coast, each voyage reaching a subsequently farther point. After fifty years of coastal exploration, the Portuguese finally reached Elmina in 1471 during the reign of King Afonso V. However, because royalty had lost interest in African exploration as a result of delayed returns, the Guinea Trade was put under the possession of the Portuguese trader Fernão Gomes. Upon reaching present day Elmina, Gomes discovered a strong gold trade. He established a trading post, and the point on the coast where it resided hence became known to the Portuguese as “A Mina” (the Mine) because of the gold that could be found there.

Building São Jorge de Mina

Trade between Elmina and Portugal grew throughout the decade following the establishment of the trading post under Gomes. In 1481, the recently crowned King John II decided to build a fort on the coast in order to ensure the protection of this trade, which was once again held as a royal monopoly. King John sent all materials needed to build this fort from Portugal to the Gold Coast on ten caravels and two transport ships. The supplies, which included everything from heavy foundation stones to roof tiles, were sent in ready-made form along with provisions for six hundred men. Under the command of Diogo de Azambuja, the fleet set sail on December 11, 1481 and arrived at Elmina a little over a month later on January 19, 1482. Some historians note that Christopher Columbus was among those to make the voyage to the Gold Coast on this fleet.
   Upon the fleet’s arrival, Azambuja contracted a Portuguese trader who had lived at Elmina for some time to arrange and interpret an official meeting with the local chief, Kwamin Ansa (interpreted from the Portuguese “Caramansa”). Concealing his self-serving interests with elegant presentation and friendliness, Azambuja imparted to the chief the great advantages of building a fort, including protection from the very powerful King of Portugal.
   Chief Kwamin Ansa, while accepting Azambuja as he'd any other Portuguese trader who arrived on his coast, was wary of a permanent settlement. However, with plans of great financial investment, the Portuguese couldn't be deterred. After offering gifts, making promises, and hinting at consequences of noncompliance, the Portuguese finally gained the reluctant agreement of Chief Kwamin Ansa.
   When construction began the next morning, the chief’s qualms were immediately proved to be well-founded. In order to build the fort in the most defensible position on a peninsula, the Portuguese had to demolish some of the homes of the villagers, who consented only upon the payment of gifts in return. The Portuguese also tried to quarry a nearby rock that the people of Elmina believed to be the home of the god of the nearby River Benya. In response to this, the local people forged an attack that resulted in several Portuguese deaths before an understanding could be met. Continued opposition led the Portuguese to burn the local village in retaliation. Even amidst this tension, the first story of the tower was completed after only twenty days, as a result of the great amount of prepared materials. The rest of the fort and an accompanying church were completed soon after despite resistance.

Immediate impact of the fort

The fort was the first pre-cast building to have been planned and executed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Upon its completion, Elmina was established as a proper city. Azambuja was named governor, and King John added the title “Lord of Guinea” to his noble classifications. São Jorge da Mina took on the military and economic importance that had previously been held by the Portuguese factory of Arguim Island on the southern border of the African Arab world. At the height of the gold trade in the early sixteenth century, 24,000 ounces of gold were exported from the Gold Coast, accounting for one-tenth of the world’s supply.
The new fort, signifying the permanent involvement of Europeans in West Africa, had a considerable effect on Africans living on the coast. Elmina declared itself an independent state at the urging of the Portuguese, whose Governor then took control of the town’s affairs. The people of Elmina were offered Portuguese protection against attacks from neighboring coastal tribes, with whom the Portuguese had much less genial relations, even while they were friendly with the powerful trading nations in the African interior. If any tribe attempted to trade with a nation other than Portugal, the Portuguese reacted with aggressive force, often forming alliances with the betraying nation’s enemy states. Hostility between tribes thus increased, and the traditional organization of society suffered, especially with the introduction of guns which made easier the domination of stronger kingdoms over weaker states.
Trade with the Europeans helped make certain goods such as cloth and beads more available to the coastal people, but European involvement also disrupted traditional trade routes between coastal people and northern tribes by cutting out the African middlemen. The population of Elmina swelled with traders from other towns hoping to trade with the Europeans, who gradually established a West African monopoly.

Atlantic slave trade

By the seventeenth century, most trade in West Africa concentrated on the sale of slaves. São Jorge da Mina played a significant part in the Atlantic Slave Trade. The castle acted as a depot where slaves were bought in bartering fashion from local African chiefs and kings. The slaves, often captured in the African interior by the slave-catchers of coastal tribes, were sold to Portuguese traders in exchange for goods such as textiles and horses. The slaves were held captive in the castle before exiting through the castle’s infamous “Door of No Return” to be transported and resold in newly colonized Brazil and other Portuguese colonies.

Control by other European nations

In 1637 the fort was taken over by the Dutch, who made it the capital of the Dutch Gold Coast. During the period of Dutch control, the castle was also known as Fort Conraadsburg. The Dutch continued the triangular Atlantic slave route until 1871, when the Dutch territory was taken over by the British.

Renovation

The castle was extensively restored by the Ghanaian government in the 1990s. Renovation of the castle continues as part of the Elmina Strategy 2015

project. The bridge leading into the castle is one of the highest priority tasks in the project. As of August 2006, the bridge renovation has been completed and construction on the upper terraces continues.

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