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Nationalism in Question: a Study of Key Categories in Ghanaian History 1863-1965

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Nationalism in Question: a Study of Key Categories in Ghanaian History 1863-1965 Nationalism In Question: A Study of Key Categories in Ghanaian History 1863-1965 by Mary Akosua Seiwaa Owusu Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia July 2020 © Copyright Mary Owusu, 2020 DEDICATION For My husband Allen My children: Nii Odoi, Nii Kpobi, Naa Dzama and Nii Ako My parents Gabriel Kwaku Owusu and Esther Appiah And In Loving Memory of My beautiful sister Veronica Jacinta Akua Akyaa Owusu Quist-Doe (October 6, 1976 – March 31, 2013) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................. x CHAPTER 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Founder Myths and National History ............................................................................. 1 1.2 Origins of the Grand Narrative of Ghana....................................................................... 6 1.3 Features of the Grand Narrative ..................................................................................... 11 1.4 Doing History Backwards: Problems of Narration in the Grand Narrative .......... 15 1.5 Problems of a Homoarchic Grand Narrative ............................................................... 16 1.6 Problems of a Binary Grand Narrative ......................................................................... 18 1.7 The Grand Narrative as a Continuum ........................................................................... 22 1.8 Nation and Nationalism: Review of Relevant Literature ......................................... 24 1.9 Cosmopolitan Nationalism: A Conceptual Framework ............................................ 29 1.10 Research Methodology .................................................................................................... 36 1.11 Chapter Plan ....................................................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 2 Rethinking Proto-Nationalism: Horton and Blyden (1863-1912) ................ 43 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 43 2.2 The African Aid Society and the Niger Valley Exploring Party ............................ 47 2.3 Asante Influence on West African Questions of the Mid-Nineteenth Century.... 50 2.4 Horton and the Matter of Self-Government ................................................................ 54 2.5 West African Intellectuals, the Anthropological Society and the Race Question .............................................................................................................................. 58 2.5.1 Horton and the Anthropological Society ............................................................. 61 2.5.2 Blyden on the Race Question and the Anthropological Society .................... 65 2.5.3 The Project of African Regeneration ................................................................... 69 2.5.4 Horton and the Project of African Regeneration ............................................... 71 2.5.5 Blyden and the Project of African Regeneration ............................................... 77 iii 2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER 3 Rethinking Cultural Nationalism as Debate (1887-1920) .............................. 88 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 88 3.2 The Gold Coast Colony: Colonial Chaos and a Cosmopolitan Social Structure . 93 3.3 Rethinking the Publications of the Gold Coast Intelligentsia as Debate ............. 101 3.4 The Pursuit of Synthesis ................................................................................................ 105 3.4.1 Mfantsi Amanbuhu Fekuw: Colonial Reform and the Project of Synthesis ................................................................................................................................... 106 3.4.2 The Aborigines Rights Protection Society and Pro-Synthesis Liberalism . 115 3.5 Defining Friendships: The ARPS, E. D. Morel and the Land Question .............. 128 3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 133 CHAPTER 4 Misreading Conservative Nationalism (1920–1945) .................................... 135 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 135 4.2 Liberalism as a Project of Interwar Writer-Intellectuals......................................... 141 4.3 Indirect Rule on the Gold Coast: An Overview........................................................ 146 4.3.1 NCBWA and the Question of Representation ................................................. 149 4.3.2 The Guggisberg Constitution and the Native Administration Ordinance .. 151 4.3.3 Azikiwe’s Renascent Africa as a Commentary on Indirect Rule ................. 155 4.4 Reflagging the Debates About Akan Culture............................................................ 158 4.5 Contestation over Akan Culture: The ARPS versus Nana Ofori Atta ................. 162 4.5.1 The ARPS Position as Expressed by J. W. de Graft Johnson ....................... 165 4.5.2 Nana Ofori Atta’s Position as Expressed by J. B. Danquah ......................... 169 4.5.3 Summary of ARPS versus Nana Ofori Atta I .................................................. 174 4.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 176 CHAPTER 5 Rethinking the Monopoly of Radical Nationalism (1946-1958) ................ 178 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 178 5.2 Self-Government: When and By Whom? .................................................................. 183 5.2.1 Amalgamation of the Colony and Asante: J. B. Danquah versus Governor Burns 186 5.2.2 The UGCC and Gold Coast Chiefs .................................................................... 189 5.2.3 The 1950 Coussey Constitution .......................................................................... 193 iv 5.2.4 The “Motion of Destiny” ...................................................................................... 199 5.2.5 Richard Wright on the “Motion of Destiny” .................................................... 202 5.2.6 Summary of Self-government: When and By Whom? .................................. 206 5.3 Tactical Action: Compromise and Contestation in Nation Framing (1951- 1957) .................................................................................................................................. 207 5.3.1 Gold Coast Nationalists and the Welfare State Model ................................... 210 5.3.2 Agreement with Britain on Membership of the Commonwealth ................. 212 5.3.3 Federation versus Unitary State .......................................................................... 213 5.3.4 From Gold Coast to Ghana: Naming the Nation and Choosing Dates ....... 218 5.3.5 Summary of Compromise and Contestation in Nation Framing .................. 220 5.4 Debates about the Ghana Citizenship Act ................................................................. 221 5.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 225 CHAPTER 6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 227 6.1 Civitatis Ghaniensis Conditor: Iconography and the Founder Debate ................ 227 6.2 Narrating Ghana through Cosmopolitan Nationalism ............................................. 236 APPENDIX A Biography .............................................................................................................. 245 A.1 Biographical Sketches for Chapter 2 .......................................................................... 245 A.1.1 Ferdinand Fitzgerald (1807-1884) ...................................................................... 245 A.1.2 Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) ................................................................ 245 A.1.3 James Africanus Beale Horton (1835-1883) .................................................... 247 A.1.4 Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) ................................................................................ 248 A.2 Biographical Sketches for Chapter 3 .......................................................................... 249 A.2.1 The Gold Coast Writer-Intellectual Community
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