/Outlines 16 0 R He was born at Cape Coast in 1864, and was the eldest son of John Sarbah, a merchant, and of his wife Sarah. 0 [8] This reclamation of nomenclature influenced the naming of the "Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society," as it was originally conceived as a branch of the Aborigines' Protection Society of London but later renamed so as to serve as its own unique entity with a direct connection to the African continent in general and the Gold Coast in particular. During the early twentieth century, the ARPS occupied itself with colonial policies on education, sanitation, health, the provision of infrastructure, and imperial labor and military recruitment in the Gold Coast during World War I. In addition to his political achievements, Sarbah wrote two books about the Fante and played an important role in establishing public schools in the colony. Another consequence of the Gold Coast ARPS' interaction with other global movements was the attainment of knowledge about how successful African domination of colonial rule could take place. The African intelligentsia had the full support of the chiefs, especially from the inception of the ARPS to about 1912, when Governor Hugh Clifford effectively implemented the indirect rule, which used the chiefs as the main agents of local administration. The Forest Bill can be traced to the Native Jurisdiction Ordinance of 1883. Part of this critique lay in a disjuncture between the espoused values of cultural nationalism by the Gold Coast ARPS that advocated a fight for the indigenous peoples given the connection that the Gold Coast ARPS had with the British colonial government. [2][7][8], In 1904 he married Marion Wood from Accra and they had three children. Sarbah also took an interest in the advancement of secondary education in Ghana and was instrumental in the development of his alma mater, Mfantsipim. Join our whatsapp page, This website uses cookies. But his interest in politics, which he had shown during his student days in England led him to take a more active part in political life. W. T. Balmer. Although he accepted the basic assumptions of the British imperial regime, he felt that some of the evils of the crown colony system should be checked. [10] The Gold Coast ARPS's interest in the affairs of people of colour abroad was predicated on the notion of the salience of race beyond the confines of an African context and the global prevalence of racial discrimination. As a legislator he was interested in law reform, and tried his best to prevent the passage of laws inimical to the interests of his countrymen. Over 50 years after his death, the University of Ghana, in 1963, named Mensah Sarbah Hall after him for his services to education. He also identified the need for good interpreters in the courts, and proposed the establishment of a school for court interpreters. John Mensah Sarbah (1864- 1910) John Mensah Sarbah, also known as "Kofi Mensah", patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gold Coast at the turn of the 20th century. 0000014819 00000 n It empowered chiefs to pass local bylaws for forest preservation. He compiled and published Fanti Law Reports in 1904, but this was incomplete because he was refused permission to take any more notes from court records. All rights reserved. The ARPS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened the traditional system of African land tenure, and sent Sarbah to argue against its passage in the Legislative Council. The delegation, which Sarbah refused out of modesty to lead, went to London in 1898, and succeeded in getting the Lands Bill disallowed. He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. Upon returning from a visit to Europe in 1903 together with William Edward Sam, John Mensah Sarbah and Sam promoted an enterprise called the Fanti Public Schools Limited. The activities of the ARPS were not always an all-male affair. John Mensah Sarbah (June 3, 1864-November 27, 1910), patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gold Coast at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. B. Danquah. His suggestion, which was an improvement on the amendment, was not accepted. 0000021045 00000 n A notable aspect of the delegation is that it included not only members of the Gold Coast elite, but also "prominent merchants". He died in 1910, without, however, making any provision in his will for the education of his children, probably because he believed that the Akan family system would cater for them. Sarbah was interested in promoting secondary education because he felt that it was the best way to enable Africans to gain the respect of the civilized world. He was the eldest son of John Sarbah (18341892), a merchant of Anomabu and Cape Coast and a member of the Legislative Council of the Gold Coast, and his wife Sarah. It is the aim of the foundation set by his descendants is to promote educational scholarships and digitally archived the works of the late John Mensah Sarbah. The ARPS was led by elected officers; during its first years, its president was Jacob Wilson Sey, while the vice president was J. P. Brown. These newspapers, read by the African intelligentsia and Europeans, including government officials, in the Gold Coast, were used as political platforms to call attention to African demands. This achievement saved the Gold Coast from the evils of the alienation of African land, as occurred, for example, in the British colony of Kenya. trailer [10] This interest in pan-Africanism manifested itself in attempts by the Gold Coast ARPS to hold a similar conference on the Gold Coast, although the idea never came to fruition. >> John Mensah Sarbah was the first lawyer of the Gold Coast that helped in the documentation of the customary laws of the Gold Coast and present day Ghana. Crises and Transitions in African Historiography (1950-1990), Essential History Primary 5 Teacher's Guide, [Ghanabib 1819 1979 Prepared 23/11/2011] [Ghanabib 1980 1999 Prepared 30/12/2011] [Ghanabib 2000 2005 Prepared 03/03, The Politics of Educational Borrowing: Reopening the Case of Achimota in British Ghana Author(S): Gita SteinerKhamsi and Hubert O, Migration from Historic Mission Churches to Pentecostal Churches in Ghana by REV, Singapore in Global History Singaporederek Heng Is Assistant Professor at the History in Singapore in Department, Ohio State University, Nationalism in Question: a Study of Key Categories in Ghanaian History 1863-1965, Colonialism, Maritime Culture and Conflict in Southern Gold Coast, 18601932, KWAME NKRUMAHS CONTRIBUTION to PAN-AFRICANISM an Afrocentric Analysis D.Zizwe Poe, Resource Flows and Technology Adoption in Tamale, Ghana: Implications for Urban and Peri-Urban Vegetable Growers. In 1892 his father died, arid he also took over his fattiers business. He also helped to establish the Fanti National Education Fund, which aimed at improving educational facilities in the country and also awarded scholarships. THE LIFE OF JOHN MENSAH SARBAH. Opera News furthermore does not condone the use of our platform for the purposes encouraging/endorsing hate speech, violation of human rights and/or utterances of a defamatory nature. It cannot be said that the late lawyer did not engaged in any business because he was at a point prosecuted for invasion of Customs duties which had to be quashed by the then Chief Justice. He became disillusioned with what he deemed to be injustice in governance from the British Crown toward the Ghanaian people and felt that the actions of the colonial system should be checked. The connection of the Gold Coast ARPS with the global movements for freedom and rights for people of colour began with interactions between the leaders of Gold Coast ARPS and other anti-imperialist and pan-Africanist leaders abroad and ended with Gold Coast ARPS involvement with the 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress. John Mensah Sarbah (June 3, 1864-November 27, 1910), patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gold Coast at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Over 50 years after his death, the University of Ghana, in 1963, named Mensah Sarbah Hall after him for his services to education. Overall, deprived of an effective voice in the administration of the colony and its dependencies, the ARPS served as the main representative of colonized Africans. But his interest in politics, which he had shown during his student days in England, led him to take a more active part in political life. The Town Councils Ordinance dealt with the levying of municipal house rates. /Font << /F13 26 0 R /F19 32 0 R /F25 38 0 R /F31 44 0 R >> According to him, what was clear is that he operated his chambers from the late fathers office at the Commercial Street in Cape Coast. /S 144 But the chief justice did not accept the proposal, and in this respect matters have not improved much since Sarbahs day, in spite of the fact that all judges are now Africans. John Mensah Sarbah was interested in promoting secondary education because he felt that it was the best way to enable Africans to gain the respect of the civilized world. He became known for defending the rights of Africans against British colonial authorities. The ARPS used the money to establish a press, which published The Gold Coast Nation (founded 1912) and The Gold Coast Times (founded 1923). Sarbah had opposed such proposals before, and people had expected him to oppose the amendment outright. He founded a Dutton scholarship at Taunton College, in memory of his brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in He also, together with other . Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society, Influences on the founding of the Gold Coast ARPS, Perception of aims of the Gold Coast ARPS, S. K. B. Asante, "The neglected aspects of the activities of the Gold Coast Aborigines Rights Protection Society. Concerning the competence and compellability of a spouse as a witness in a criminal trial in which the other spouse was the accused, he proposed that no distinction should be made between the spouse in a Christian marriage and the spouse in a customary marriage. The great Ghanaian nationalist John Mensah Sarbah, born on June 3 1864, died November 6 1910. To Sarbah this went against the democratic traditions of the Fante. WhatsApp : +233204700052 In 1898 ARPS sent a delegation to London and successfully got the Lands Bill overturned. Despite this inability to create their own pan-African conference, the Gold Coast ARPS in 1912 participated in a pan-African conference at what is now Tuskegee University. Answer: In 1897 he worked with JE Casely Hayford, JP Brown, JW de Graft Johnson, and others to form the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS). This is clear evidence to the effect that aside his legal profession, he had massive interest in education, politics, business and Agriculture. Consequently, the Society declined as a major political force. [10] In addition to the news of successful anti-colonial movements, the Gold Coast ARPS was interested in the growing formation of pan-African conferences that sought to discuss "questions 'affecting the Native races'". Email: henrydonsco@gmail.com John Mensah Sarbah was one of the pioneers of Ghanaian politics and a distinguished African politician in the Gold Coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s. [5] The Gold Coast ARPS became a voice for the rights of indigenous peoples by both broadcasting their aims in their own newspaper, Gold Coast Aborigines, and advocating on behalf of indigenous land rights by presenting the reasons for their dissent of the Lands Bill of 1897 in front of the Legislative Council. Sarbah was the eldest son of John Sarbah, a successful merchant, and was subsequently well-educated. %%EOF When Governor Sir William Maxwell (term of office 1895- 97) refused to withdraw the bill, Sarbah advised the ARPS to send a delegation to Atspo Reports, Statistics, And Goal Scorers From Betpawa Premier League Match Week 12. Magnus Sampson, Gold Coast Men of Affairs, London, 1937. He became the first native-born Ghanaian to accomplish the feat. They sent Sarbah to argue against its passage in the Legislative Council. This led in 1904 to the foundation ofMfantsipim School, which in 1906 merged with the Collegiate School, retaining the name of Mfantsipim School. Sarbah House, at Mfantsipim, is named after him. [5] It was through their meeting with Joseph Chamberlain that the Gold Coast ARPS was able to get support for the denunciation of the Lands Bill of 1897 and the assurance that "native law would remain and prevail with regard to devolution of land". Furthermore, some of its members joined in the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) which eventually lead to the independence of Ghana. % [3], J.W. In 1906 another delegation led by Reverend K. Egyir-Assam was sent to England under the auspices of the ARPS to demand the repeal of the Town Councils Ordinance, though this time the Colonial Office did not grant the wishes of the ARPS. He said the late lawyer readily made cash allowances to Cocoa farmers to push the economic development of the Gold Coast. John Mensah Sarbah was born on Friday, 3 June 1864, in Anomabu, in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. ARPS successfully defended the interests of native African people against colonizers for decades and began to form an early forum for sentiments of . In 1887 he was called to the bar and qualified as a barrister. ARPS activities were not restricted to Cape Coast; as early as 1897, the society had local branches in cities along the Gold Coast littoral regions, including Elmina, Saltpond, Winneba, and Axim. He founded two newspapers, The Gold Coast People and Gold Coast Weekly, and became an authority on the traditions of the Fante people. This led in 1904 to the foundation of Mfantsipim School, which in 1906 merged with the Collegiate School, retaining the name of Mfantsipim School. Amazon.com: John Mensah Sarbah: Books 10 results RESULTS Fanti customary laws, a brief introduction to the principles of the native laws and customs of the Fanti and Akan districts of the Gold Coast, with a . The Oil Palm and Its Products, Journal of the African Society, London, 1909. /P 0 /CropBox [0.0000 0.0000 595.2756 841.8898] Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS), The Ahanta kings head that was preserved in a jar at a Dutch Laboratory, Coronavirus declared global health emergency by WHO, How Ghanas 1966 World cup boycott led to Africas inclusion, Furious Mesut Ozil agent explains why classless Arsenal signed Thomas Partey on transfer deadline day, WBA and Brighton race to sign Andre Ayew from Swansea City, Ghana National Anthem sang in All Local Dialect. There he fought the Native Jurisdiction Bill, which gave Fante chiefs exclusive powers to administer local laws. In 1901 he was appointed to the Legislative Council. assumptions of the British imperial regime, he felt that, PS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened, Building on Custom: Land Tenure Policy and Economic Development in Ghana, Exhuming and Highlighting the Nearly Forgotten Gold Coast Intelligentsia: the Life and Times of Prince Kwamin Atta Amonoo V, The Rise of British Jurisdiction in Ghana Jonqil Van, Primary 5 History of Ghana Facilitator's Guide, Pan-African History: Political Figures from Africa and The, AFRICAN COASTAL ELITE ARCHITECTURE: CULTURAL AUTHENTIFICATION DURING the COLONIAL PERIOD in ANOMABO, GHANA By, The Case of John Mensah Sarbah and the Reconstruction of Gold Coast History, The Commission Shall Advise the President on Development Planning Policy and Strategy, Decolonising African History. one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gol, Building on Custom: Land Tenure Policy and Economic Development in Ghana, Exhuming and Highlighting the Nearly Forgotten Gold Coast Intelligentsia: the Life and Times of Prince Kwamin Atta Amonoo V, The Rise of British Jurisdiction in Ghana Jonqil Van, Primary 5 History of Ghana Facilitator's Guide, Pan-African History: Political Figures from Africa and The, AFRICAN COASTAL ELITE ARCHITECTURE: CULTURAL AUTHENTIFICATION DURING the COLONIAL PERIOD in ANOMABO, GHANA By, The Case of John Mensah Sarbah and the Reconstruction of Gold Coast History, The Commission Shall Advise the President on Development Planning Policy and Strategy, Decolonising African History. Volume One: Ethiopia-Ghana, Ed. When the Gold Coast Native Jurisdiction Ordinance (1883) was being amended in 1910, Section 29 caused a stir among the people because they felt it would empower the governor to usurp the rights of the people in the destooling of chiefs. C.F. 25 0 obj Early Life The influence of this conference on the members of the Gold Coast ARPS was a renewed belief that, eventually, the indigenous African peoples would be able to successfully rise up against the European colonial powers that had ruled over them for centuries and begin to govern themselves. [10], A common critique of the Gold Coast ARPS was that its members sought to garner greater financial and political gain for the African bourgeoisie and elites, rather than for the common people. [4], The Gold Coast ARPS formed as a conglomerate of different groups of intellectuals in Cape Coast and Southern Ghana who sought to protect the traditional land tenure practices of the indigenous Gold Coast peoples from being usurped by the British colonial government. The ARPS had been preceded by the activities of the Mfantsi Amanbuhu Fekuw (Fante National Association), led by members of the African intelligentsia, including John Mensah Sarbah, J. W. de Graft Johnson, Chief J. D. Abraham, and J. P. Brown. He was the first African barrister from the then Gold Coast. The late father of the late Sarbah was a business man who traded salt among others, but he added that even though there is no clear evidence that the late lawyer totally took over his fathers business. He was a good churchman, and bought a pipe organ for the Methodist Church at Cape Coast. John Mensah Sarbah (June 3, 1864-November 27, 1910), patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the John Mensah Sarbah was one of the most prominent nationalists of the Gold Coast in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Jacob Kwaw Wilson Sey (10 March 1832 - 22 May 1902), also known as Kwaa Bonyi, was a colonial era Fante artisan, farmer, philanthropist, nationalist and the first recorded indigenous multi-millionaire on the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). At the inaugural anniversary lecture and thanks-giving service in Cape Coast organized by the John Mensah Sarbah Memorial Legacy Foundation on the theme: The life of legacy of John Mernsah Sarbah; education as a catalyst to economic emancipation came the business side of the late lawyer. Opera News furthermore does not condone the use of our platform for the purposes encouraging/endorsing hate speech, violation of human rights and/or utterances of a defamatory nature. 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