hunger for slaves, both groups mutually grew in power, until 1874 when the British finally broke the spirit of the Ashanti kingdom. A large military force embarked on a campaign through the eastern and southern regions of Ghana, eventually reaching the Asante capital of Kumasi. The city was burned to the ground and the symbol of the king, a golden stool, was destroyed.15 Fourteen years later, a colonial official passing through the area stated, Kumasi...was nothing more than a large clearing in the forest, over which were scattered, somewhat irregularly, groups of houses. The paths were dirty and ill-kept, and between the groups of houses large patches of waste ground intervened, and on these, amidst the tall coarse grass that covered them, were to be seen the remains of houses that once occupied them.” 16 The city would later be rebuilt under colonial supervision, although the glory and opulence of the Asante kingdom would never be seen again. While the first major shift in Ghanaian life was a response to a variety of changes in topography, the second major shift, brought about by colonial powers, was a change in political structure which drove urban reform. As European power spread along the coast and grasped inland, they instituted a series of sweeping changes to city development, organization, and building technology. As Janet Hess stated in her book Art and Architecture in Postcolonial Architecture, “Colonial rule was from its inception characterized by an effort to regulate the structure and organization of the city.”17 Starting in Cape Europeans and also with a protected market in which Ashanti traders could more profitably sell European imports.” (Ellis, A. B. A History of the Gold Coast of West Africa. New York: Negro Universities, 1969, p.97) 15. Levy, Ghana, p.47 16. Freeman, R. Austin. Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman. London: Cass, 1967, p.110 17. Hess, Art and Architecture in Postcolonial Africa, p.71
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