article
Accumulation, wealth and belief in Asante history: I. to the close of the ninteenth century
Africa • 53 (1) • Published In 1983 • Pages: 23-43
By: McCaskie, T. C..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper McCaskie examines the meaning of wealth and accumulation in Asante culture. He also examines changes in the Asante political system and regalia in the 19th century. According to McCaskie, it was the Asante command of gold and its exchange for surpluses in labor (slaves and pawns) and produce that gave rise to the Asante chiefdoms and state. At the center of this process was the ‘big man,’ whose reason for accumulation, McCaskie argues, was social and cosmological, i.e., to expand the realm of culture vis-a-vis nature. At time of death, the state reclaimed much of the wealth, which was equated with the nation and royal authority, and symbolized in the Golden Stool. McCaskie goes on to show how opportunities for accumulation increased dramatically after 1831, due to increased foreign trade. Exposure to the British-influenced market economy of the southern coast provided an alternative rational for accumulation. Asante bigmen began to resent death duties and lost their faith in the social-cosmological compact. Many left for the coast, while those that stayed eventually rebelled.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Paraphernalia
- Furniture
- Accumulation of wealth
- Territorial hierarchy
- Chief executive
- Exploitation
- Cosmology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Akan
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ;1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- Not Specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1700-1900
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Ashanti; Ghana
- NotesAdditional notes
- T. C. McCaskie
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-43)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 29010790
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Akan (African people)