Resistance to British Hegemony
In the nineteenth century, Britain’s African Company of Merchants began to support rivals of the Ashanti. That created friction, which Britain inherited when it dissolved the African Company and took over its holdings in 1821. Continued British support for Ashanti tribal enemies eventually led to a war that lasted from 1823 to 1831. That conflict, the First Anglo-Ashanti War, was followed by frequent skirmishes that grew into war four more times in subsequent generations. It was against that backdrop of conflict between the Ashanti and Britain that Yaa Asantewaa was born, raised, got married, and had a daughter.
Asantewaa, the elder of two children, became a major landowner and prosperous farmer in her region. Her younger brother eventually became chief of Edweso. When he died in 1894, his sister exhibited signs of the badass she would become, when she used her position as Queen Mother to nominate and secure the succession for her own grandson. The eruption of yet another conflict with the British disrupted her plans. Britain demanded that the Ashanti sign a letter in which they would consent to become a British protectorate. When the Ashanti refused, the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War broke out.