Ghana: The Gold Coast of Africa The Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, is one of the many civilizations of Africa. It was a British colony until March 6, 1957, when it became independent as the State of Ghana. In 1471, the Portuguese invaded this region and became involved in the gold trade, giving the region the name Gold Coast. They built forts to protect their gold trading monopoly from merchants representing other nations. In 1642, the Dutch West India Company captured all Portuguese strongholds and devoted its interests to the slave trade rather than the gold trade. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Gold Coast was one of the main sources of slave exports in West Africa. At the beginning of the 19th century, countries involved in the slave trade began to abolish it, considering it illegal and immoral. The British abolished it in 1807, the Danes in 1804, and the Dutch in 1814. In 1821, British forts passed from private ownership to government control. The Gold Coast became a British colony and the new government was known...