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Volume 11, Issue 1, January 2008
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The Trade War in the Lower Volta River, 1887-1905
Author A. OlorunfemiSource: Universitas 11, pp 1 –24 (2008)More LessOne major problem which European administrators faced in the control of their territorial acquisitions in West Africa shortly after the 1884-85 Berlin Conference was the task of maintaining such possessions without heavy subsidies from their respective metropolitan governments. In their attempts to tackle this problem, colonial administrators and their agents hurried into the interior from their coastal establishments in search of wider market ,areas and trade routes to feed their customs posts from where they hoped to collect sufficient duties on trade upon which revenue for administration almost entirely depended. In spite of the series of 'boundary adjustments' negotiated among the three principal European powers - Britain, Germany and France - involved in the partition of West Africa, conflicts still arose because territorial claims overlapped, boundaries were ill-defined, and more importantly because each claimant desired to keep rival nations away from what each considered as her own 'privileged markets'.
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An Empirical Investigation into the use of English as the Medium of Instruction in Primary Schools in Ghana
Author G.** Opoku, J.Y.* & HansonSource: Universitas 11, pp 25 –48 (2008)More LessGhana is a multilingual society with English, a foreign language, as its official language, owing to the country's colonial heritage. Except in a few cases where children grow up in affluent homes where they are exposed to English from infancy, most Ghanaian children are exposed to English for the first time at school, after having gained some proficiency at home in the predominant language of the local community, which may be a mother tongue but not necessarily so for all children growing up in the community.
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The Image of the African in Latin Literature
Author D.K. ShadowSource: Universitas 11, pp 49 –60 (2008)More LessHow did Latin authors depict the African? Did their presentation of the African have racial undertones? An examination of the above questions will form the focus of this paper. For the purpose of chronological sequence, it will be necessary to discuss the topic under two broad headlines; the Republic and the Empire.
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The Role of the Dutch in the Coastal Wars of 1807-1828
Author N.J.K. BrukumSource: Universitas 11, pp 61 –82 (2008)More LessA major characteristic of the political scene in the Gold Coast was the series of wars between Asante and Fante which culminated in the famous Anglo-Asante wars of the 19th century. The major consequence of these wars was the defeat of Asante which led to the collapse of that empire and the eventual colonisation of the Gold Coast by Britain.
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The Basel Mission and Social Change in 19th Century Akyem Abuakwa Society
Author R. Addo-FeningSource: Universitas 11, pp 83 –92 (2008)More LessThe Basel Mission set up its first missionary station in Akyem Abuakwa at Gyadam near Osino in September 1853; and by 1861 the Mission boasted a nascent church with small congregations at Kukurantumi and Kyebi. For the rest of the century the Basel Mission Church operated as a veritable propaganda outfit seeking to inculcate new values, habits and beliefs. To this end it created institutions some of which have lasted till our time. This paper attempts an examination of the origins of some of these institutions and their continuing influence on 20th century Abuakwa society.
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Preventing Malnutrition in Ghana
Author Anna LarteySource: Universitas 11, pp 93 –122 (2008)More LessGood nutrition is necessary for the maintenance of good health. To be in good health one must eat foods that provide the body with all the necessary components to promote growth and development. The components obtained from food are carbohydrates, fats and oils, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water.
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Must we Share True Beliefs to Understand each other's Intentions?
Author Helen LauerSource: Universitas 11, pp 123 –136 (2008)More LessPhilosophers disagree about how to analyse an intention; they disagree about how to depict the peculiar kind of thought whose occurrence sometimes makes other events happen. Yet there seems to be no disagreement on one point: It is widely assumed that in order for you to interpret the thoughts1 that led to my action, you must share with me some true beliefs about what I am doing. In other words, a background of specifiable shared knowledge is assumed to be necessary in order for intentions to be intelligible at all.2
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Rejoinder: Michel Verdon and Ewe Ethnograghy
Author G.K. NukunyaSource: Universitas 11, pp 137 –168 (2008)More LessThose who used to lament the dearth of reliable ethnographic material on the Ewe, particularly in English, must he quite happy with recent developments. During the past ten years or so, some useful publications have appeared to rectify the situation. These include works in Patten (1980), Greene (1981) and Verdon (1983). Regrettably, however, the old concentration on the South seemed to have continued since both Greene and Patten worked at Anloga, the traditional capital of Anlo, the largest and most powerful political entity of the South. This makes Verdon's study particularly important, as it is on Abutia, which though geographically central, relates more to the North. It is on this work that this paper primarily dwells.
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A Protestant Ethic among the Akuapem? A Reflection
Author Brigid SackeySource: Universitas 11, pp 169 –192 (2008)More LessOn reading Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, my attention was drawn to a general notion in Ghana about the Akuapem (a subset of Akan)1 people, namely, their over-enterprising attitude to work, their strife to earn more and more money, their parsimony and their extreme politeness, all popularly attributed to the influence of the Presbyterians (Basel Mission) who proselytized among them. Anecdotal evidence generally tends to ridicule what it considers the extraordinary industriousness, extreme stinginess and over-courteousness of the Akuapem.