Ghana's Independence, 6 March 1957

After further elections in 1954 and 1956 confirmed the CPP's support, Britain set a date for independence. At midnight on 6 March 1957 the Gold Coast, joined by British Togoland after a 1956 UN plebiscite, became the independent state of Ghana. The name recalled the medieval West African empire of Ghana, linking the new nation to a proud African past rather than to its colonial label. Nkrumah declared that Ghana's independence was 'meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa'.

Ghana began with real advantages: it was the world's largest cocoa producer, had significant financial reserves, and an educated civil service. It was the first colony in West Africa to win independence, following Sudan in 1956 as one of the first south of the Sahara, and it became a powerful symbol for African nationalists and for the US civil rights movement. Its experience would test whether independence alone could deliver development and democracy.