Ghana — The Model

CHAPTER 3 · 1947–1957 · The Decolonization of Africa, 1945–1994

On the map it is one small territory turning red on the West African coast. In history it is the door. At midnight on 6 March 1957 the Gold Coast becomes Ghana, the first sub-Saharan colony to win its freedom — and Kwame Nkrumah, who had entered the decade as a near-unknown, stands before the crowd having gone from prison cell to prime minister in six years. “At long last the battle has ended,” he tells them, “and Ghana, our beloved country, is free forever” — but adds at once that this freedom means nothing until the whole continent is free. The independence of one small colony is broadcast,

The turn: Accra, midnight, 6 March 1957.

This chapter is one scene of an interactive atlas: the map repaints as the dates advance, campaigns draw themselves, and every chapter argues its causes and consequences — then a field exam asks you to prove it on the map.