29. Mounting Resentment
The victorious British exiled the Ashanti king, Prempeh I, to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, along with his chief supporters. Asantewaa’s grandson, for whom she had secured the rule of Edweso, was among those exiled. Asantewaa had to step into her grandson’s shoes and assume his place, ruling as regent. She demonstrated her badass chops by maintaining order amongst her subjects.
None too fond of the British to begin with – as few Ashanti were – the exile of her grandson further alienated and soured Edweso’s regent and Queen Mother against the colonial power. Then in March, 1900, the pot boiled over when Governor Frederick Mitchell Hodgson, accompanied by his wife, traveled with a military escort to Kumasi, the chief city of the Ashanti. There, he summoned the chiefs, and oblivious to their sensibilities delivered an offensive speech.