Fort Amsterdam's History
Their arrival preceded the Fante Nation, another inland group who would eventually surround them.
20 miles west of Kormantin, they established the first permanent European trading center on the “Gold Coast.”
He also reaches the cities of Mouri, Cape Coast and Winneba, in spite of Portugal’s claim to the whole coast. He was chased away by an arriving armada from Lisbon.
The French ship is hammered by cannon fire which killed or wounded 22 of the crew. The rest of the crew abandoned ship and fled ashore. The captured ship was taken back to Elmina Castle, where it was salvaged for parts.
They barter extensively at Gold Coast villages from Axim to Accra. The small under-supplied garrison at Elmina is nearly powerless to stop them.
The small stone fort erected becomes the first Dutch outpost in West Africa.
The Company of Adventurers of London Trading to the Ports of Africa, more commonly known as the Guinea Company, initially concentrated on the redwood trade in Gambia and searching for gold in Sierra Leone. One of the first English-language descriptions of West Africa, Richard Jobson’s The Golden Trade, published in London…
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Dutch soldiers assist the Sebou in battle and raids, creating hostility between them and the Fante.
They take over all forts, lodges and trading operations in West Africa. Private Dutch traders are prohibited from trading there.
A large Dutch army fails to capture the Portuguese castle, thanks largely to a clever ambush that African Elmina warriors staged.
