The Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty of 1867 redistributed forts along the Dutch and British Gold Coasts in order to concentrate the parties' areas of influence. All forts to the east of Fort Elmina were adopted by Britain, and all forts to the west by the Netherlands.
History
Whereas the Dutch forts on the Gold Coast were a colonial backwater in the 19th century, the British forts were slowly developed into a full colony, especially after Britain took over the Danish Gold Coast in 1850. The presence of Dutch forts in an area that became increasingly influenced by the United Kingdom was deemed undesirable, and in the late 1850s British began pressing for either a buyout of the Dutch forts, or a trade of forts so as to produce more coherent areas of influence.
In the Dutch political landscape of the time, a buyout was not a possibility, so a trade of forts was negotiated. In 1867, the "Convention between Great Britain and the Netherlands for an Interchange of Territory on the Gold Coast of Africa" was signed, in which all Dutch forts to the east of Elmina were handed over to Britain, while the British forts west of Elmina were handed over to the Netherlands.
The trade proved a disaster for the Dutch, as their long-standing alliance with the Ashanti was not well received by the population around the new forts assigned to them. The people of British Komenda refused to hoist the Dutch flag and eventually resorted in taking Dutch naval officers hostage who tried to force their hand. The Dutch responded by sending a punitive expedition to Komenda in 1869–70. Meanwhile, the Fante Confederacy had laid siege to Elmina. In this context, the Dutch colonial minister secretly began negotiating a handover of all Dutch forts to Britain. With the Gold Coast Treaty of 1871, the whole colony was ceded to the United Kingdom for 46,939.62 Dutch guilders.
Tariffs One of the principal reasons for the trade of forts was that a coherent area of influence would allow the collection of customs duties on the Gold Coast. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands committed themselves, by virtue of article 2 of the treaty, to the following tariffs on the Gold Coast:
On the Netherland possessionsOn the British possessionsAle, beer, wine, and all spirits or spirituous liquorsper litreeight centsper old wine gallonsix penceCigars, snuff or tobacco in any shapeper kilogrammeten centsper poundone pennyGunpowderper kilogrammeten centsper poundone pennyFire arms of any descriptioneachsixty centseachone shillingOn all goods of every other kindsAn ad valorem duty of three per cent on the invoice price
Signatories For the Netherlands: , Dutch envoy in London; Cornelis Nagtglas, ex-governor of the Dutch Gold Coast.
For the United Kingdom: Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, Secretary of State for the Colonies; Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Forts traded From the Netherlands to the United Kingdom Place in GhanaNew British nameDutch nameMoreeFort NassauFort NassauAccraFort UssherFort CrêvecoeurKormantinFort CormantineFort AmsterdamSenya BerakuFort Good HopeFort Goede HoopApamFort PatienceFort Lijdzaamheid
From the United Kingdom to the Netherlands Place in GhanaNew Dutch nameBritish nameBeyinFort Willem IIIFort ApolloniaDixcoveFort Metalen KruisFort DixcoveKomendaFort KomendaFort KomendaSekondiFort SekondiFort Sekondi
See also Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaties of 1870–71 Netherlands–United Kingdom relations
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