The War of the Golden Stool and its Aftermath
After delivering her stirring speech, Nana Yaa Asantewaa put an exclamation mark on it by grabbing a gun and shooting into the air. The effect was electric, firing up the audience and whipping the embers of Ashanti resentment into a roaring blaze of resistance. That evening, she and the gathered chiefs “drank the gods” – libations poured out as offerings – and pledged to rid themselves of the British yoke. She was also appointed Ashanti war leader and commander of the forces – a role to which no woman had been appointed before.
Within days, thousands had flocked to join Asantewaa. Many more, who had initially been reluctant to join, were shamed into doing so after Asantewaa enlisted the women, to carry out a highly effective public relations campaign. Women were organized into marching around their villages, and engaging in martial rituals to demonstrate their support and solidarity. The masculinity of laggard men was publicly challenged, and Asantewaa even got Ashanti women to withhold sex from their husbands if they did not join the resistance.
In the meantime, Governor Hodgson had hastily retreated into Kumasi’s fort along with his wife and military escort. There, they soon found themselves surrounded by thousands of warriors, deep inside Ashanti territory and hundreds of miles away from the coast and British military rescue. The fort’s machine guns and modern artillery held the besiegers at bay, so the Ashanti, who lacked artillery to breach its walls, settled down to a prolonged siege, cutting off the defenders from supplies and hoping to starve them into surrender.
Asantewaa directed her men to erect massive barricades along the routes to Kumasi, made of stones and logs and dirt, that proved highly resistant to British artillery. Between the barricades, ambushes, and other delaying tactics employed by the Ashanti, a British relief expedition dispatched to rescue Hodgson found its pace reduced to a crawl. A relief column of about 700 men finally reached the fort, only to end up besieged themselves. With supplies running low, the governor organized the healthiest men into a breakout, which spirited him and his wife to safety, while leaving the sick and wounded behind.
Eventually, a bigger British expedition was organized, which marched into Kumasi, lifted the siege, and broke the Ashanti resistance, bringing to an end the War of the Golden Stool. It had cost the British 1007 lives, while the Ashanti lost an estimated 2000. The Ashanti were annexed and incorporated into the Gold Coast colony as a protectorate, but were left to run their own internal affairs, with considerable autonomy that amounted to de facto independence. The Golden Stool was not surrendered to the British, but hidden deep in the forest. It was accidentally discovered decades later by some laborers, who desecrated it by removing some of its ornaments. As to Asantewaa, she was exiled to the Seychelles, where she died in 1921. Her body was eventually returned to her homeland, where it was buried with honors. Today, she is viewed in Ghana as a great national heroine.
Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Black History Heroes – Queen Nana Yaa Asantewaa of West Africa’s Ashanti Empire
Dangerous Women Project – Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of the Ashanti Confederacy
Wikipedia – War of the Golden Stool
War History Online – Queen of Ghana and War For the Golden Stool