Fort Nassau, Ghana

castle, fort
Inception	1612
Country	Ghana, Dutch colonial empire
Capital of	Dutch Gold Coast
Dem locate for de administrative territorial entity insyd	Central Region
Location	Moree
Coordinate location	5°8′0″N 1°12′0″W
Occupant	Dutch West India Company
Heritage designation	Ghana’s material cultural heritage
Described at URL	https://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl/en/Nassau-fort-(Mouri-Ghana).124c
Ghana Place Names URL	https://sites.google.com/site/ghanaplacenames/places-in-perspective/castles-forts#h.7lmyv235hvx5

Fort Nassau, near Moree, Ghana, be de first fort wey de Dutch people establish am wey cam turn de Dutch Gold Coast. Secof ein importance during de early European colonial period for West Africa den ein testimony for African gold trade den de Atlantic slave trade, dem inscribe de fort for UNESCO World Heritage list top for 1979 insyd (along plus several other castles den forts for Ghana).^[1]

Background[edit | edit source]

From 1598 dey go, Dutch merchants trade for de Gold Coast of Africa. Although na de Portuguese settle already for Gold Coast, na der be little effort make dem evict de Dutch, as na dem commit military resources for de war for Europe insyd.

Dis change after dem sign de Twelve Years' Truce between Portugal-Spain den de Dutch Republic for 1609 insyd. Now nu de Portuguese get sufficient resources make dem protect dema trade monopoly, wey dem begin dey attack de (from de Portuguese dema viewpoint, illegitimate) Dutch factories for de coast. Dem burn de factory for Mouri go ground for 1610 insyd. Dutch traders then petition de States-General for de Dutch Republic make dem build fort for de coast. Na de States-General be receptive for dema demands, wey dem send Jacob Clantius, wey na he cam turn de first General for de Coast, go de Gold Coast for 1611 insyd. For 1612 insyd, dem sign de Treaty of Asebu between de Dutch den de chief of Asebu, wey dem allow de establishment for Fort Nassau for Mouri.

History[edit | edit source]

For 1612 insyd, Clantius build fort dem reinforce for Mouri, wey, due to de unfamiliarity of de Dutch plus building for de tropics, na e be notorious for ein unhealthy conditions. For 1624 insyd, de Dutch considerably expand de fort. Fort Nassau serve as de capital for de Dutch Gold Coast from ein establishment until 1637, wen de Dutch capture Fort Elmina from de Portuguese.

For de end of 1781 Captain Thomas Shirley for de frigate HMS Leander insyd, togeda plus de sloop-of-war Alligator, dem sail give de Dutch Gold Coast plus convoy wey dey consist of few merchant-vessels den transports. Na Britain dey at war plus de Dutch Republic wey Shirley launch unsuccessful attack for 17 February for de Dutch outpost for Elmina, wey dem repulse am four days later. Leander den Shirley then go on wey dem capture four small Dutch forts: Fort Nassau (20 guns), Fort Amsterdam (32 guns) for Kormantine (Courmantyne anaa Apam, Fort Lijdzaamheid anaa Fort Patience (22 guns)), Fort Goede Hoop (18 guns) for Senya Beraku (Berricoe, Berku, Fort Barracco), den Fort Crèvecœur (32 guns), for Accra. Shirley then garrison those facilities plus personnel from Cape Coast Castle.