The Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society

In 1897, a group of educated African elites in Cape Coast founded a political organization that would shape the Gold Coast's resistance for decades. This episode traces the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS) from its founding in response to the Crown Lands Bill of 1897 to its campaign against the 1911 Forest Bill and its long battle against land alienation. We explore the key figures behind the ARPS — John Mensah Sarbah, J.E. Casely Hayford, and J.P. Brown — and how their work laid the groundwork for later nationalist movements. The episode also examines the ARPS's use of petitions, delegations to London, and newspaper campaigns, and reflects on why this elite-led society eventually gave way to more mass-based politics. Join hosts Lucas and Luna as they uncover the story of Ghana's first sustained political lobby. #AboriginesRightsProtectionSociety #GoldCoast #JohnMensahSarbah #JECaselyHayford #CrownLandsBill #ForestBill1911 #CapeCoast #GoldCoastHistory #ColonialResistance #AfricanHistory #GhanaHistory #WestAfrica #LandRights #Anticolonialism #ElitePolitics #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo