Page+2+Alec+History+Ghana

=History of Ghana=

The first European settlers in Ghana were the Portuguese who built a trade fort there for the trade of gold. Later in 1598 the Dutch built several forts along the coast of Ghana. Then in 1637 and 1642 the Dutch captured both Portuguese forts built in Ghana. The Dutch were later joined by other European colonizers including British, Danes, and Swedes all dotting the coastlines with forts and trading towns. When the Dutch and other European colonizers left by 1874 the British then made Ghana a crown colony. The British crown remained in control of Ghana until 1957 during this time industry and economic development was run primarily by the British. Many mines and plantations were built increasing the exportation of the countries vast gold and cocoa supply. When the British left the country in 1957 they left the new Socialist government of Ghana a 200 million pound inheritance. This money was unfortunately spent too quickly on nationalizing the exportation companies and schools and was not spent properly on these well intentioned developments. The main fault of the British in the economic decline of Ghana was that during their colonization of the land all the money from exports went to the British colonizers, not the people or the development of the people. Also there is a problem found in the way that the British left their colony. Instead of helping them use the money they were given they simply left them to make their own government and decisions from scratch, ultimately leading to corruption and in-proper use of funds which led to inflation, unemployment, crime, and the point of economic decline we see today. [|* Early 19th century colonial Ghanian port.] [] []