ABSTRACT
The social importance of cocoa is that it is the industry which affects the poor man’s purse. The most important economic result of the war of 1874 was the abolition of slavery. The export slave trade had, of course, been abolished long before, but the institution of domestic slavery still existed in the new colony. In November 1874 the Governor, Captain Strahan, consulted the chiefs of the western and central provinces at Cape Coast, and those of the eastern province at Accra, and explained to them two ordinances which had been drawn up and approved by the Secretary of State. The agreement was drawn up in England. The firms did consult the Gold Coast Government, and although they explained their position and their intentions to the Colonial Office, it does seem to have occurred to them that they should undertake any publicity on their own behalf among their African clients.
