African Independence CRQ

At midnight on March 6, 1957, Kwame Nkrumah gave a speech at the flag ceremony, where the imperial power’s flag was lowered and the flag of the new state of Ghana, previously known as the Gold Coast, was raised. In the audience were thousands of Ghanaians, representatives of foreign nations, and numerous dignitaries from Britain, including Queen Elizabeth II.

…At long last the battle has ended! And thus Ghana, your beloved country, is free forever. And here again, I want to take the opportunity to thank the chiefs and people of this country, the youth, the farmers, the women, who have so nobly fought and won this battle. Also I want to thank the valiant ex-servicemen who have so co-operated with me in this mighty task of freeing our country from foreign rule and imperialism! And as I pointed out at our Party conference at Saltpond, I made it quite clear that from now on, today, we must change our attitudes, our minds. We must realise that from now on we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people! But also, as I pointed out, that entails [requires] hard work. I am depending upon the millions of the country, the chiefs and people to help me to reshape the destiny of this country. We are prepared to make it a nation that will be respected by any nation in the world. We know we are going to have a difficult beginning but again I am relying upon your support, I am relying upon your hard work, seeing you here in your thousands, however far my eye goes. My last warning to you is that you ought to stand firm behind us so that we can prove to the world that when the African is given a chance he can show the world that he is somebody. We are not waiting; we shall no more go back to sleep any more. Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world and that new African is ready to fight his own battle and show that after all the black man is capable of managing his own affairs. We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, young as we are, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation…

At midnight on March 6, 1957, Kwame Nkrumah gave a speech at the flag ceremony, where the imperial power’s flag was lowered and the flag of the new state of Ghana, previously known as the Gold Coast, was raised. In the audience were thousands of Ghanaians, representatives of foreign nations, and numerous dignitaries from Britain, including Queen Elizabeth II.

…At long last the battle has ended! And thus Ghana, your beloved country, is free forever. And here again, I want to take the opportunity to thank the chiefs and people of this country, the youth, the farmers, the women, who have so nobly fought and won this battle. Also I want to thank the valiant ex-servicemen who have so co-operated with me in this mighty task of freeing our country from foreign rule and imperialism! And as I pointed out at our Party conference at Saltpond, I made it quite clear that from now on, today, we must change our attitudes, our minds. We must realise that from now on we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people! But also, as I pointed out, that entails [requires] hard work. I am depending upon the millions of the country, the chiefs and people to help me to reshape the destiny of this country. We are prepared to make it a nation that will be respected by any nation in the world. We know we are going to have a difficult beginning but again I am relying upon your support, I am relying upon your hard work, seeing you here in your thousands, however far my eye goes. My last warning to you is that you ought to stand firm behind us so that we can prove to the world that when the African is given a chance he can show the world that he is somebody. We are not waiting; we shall no more go back to sleep any more. Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world and that new African is ready to fight his own battle and show that after all the black man is capable of managing his own affairs. We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, young as we are, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation…