What is Ghezo?
{{no sources|date=January 2025}} Ghezo was a [[king]] of the [[Dahomey]] in [[Benin]] in the 19th Century. After Ghezo’s [[father]] Agonglo died, Ghezo’s [[brother]] Adandozan became king. In 1818, Adandozan [[jail]]ed Francisco Félix de Souza, a [[slave trade]]r from [[Brazil]] but de Souza escaped and made a deal with Ghezo to launch a [[coup d’état]] to force Adandozan to [[abdicate]]. Officially, Ghezo was [[regent]] for Adandozan’s [[son]] Dakpo but then in 1838, Ghezo declared his own son Glele [[heir apparent]]. Dakpo and Adandozan decided to [[fight]] Ghezo to change this and the fight started a [[fire]] which [[kill]]ed Dakpo making Ghezo official [[king]] of Dahomey. ==War with Oyo== An [[empire]] called the Oyo had had the [[Dahomey]] pay [[tax]]es to them every year since 1730. Then in 1823, Ghezo refused to pay the tax the Oyo wanted. When the Oyo sent an [[ambassador]] to Ghezo to change his [[mind]], Ghezo [[kill]]ed him. The Oyo then went to [[war]] with Ghezo and the [[Kingdom]] of Dahomey. Ghezo defeated and killed the Oyo [[leader]] Ajanaku and won the war. == Controversy over the Slave Trade == After beating the Oyo, Ghezo created his own [[empire]] which was based on [[slavery]]. Ghezo had people captured and enslaved. To escape him, people ran away to the city of [[Abeokuta]]. Ghezo started to wage [[war]] against Abeokuta to get [[slaves]]. In 1849, Commander [[William Winniett]], governor of the [[Gold Coast (British colony)]], sent naval officer Frederick E. Forbes to Ghezo to convince King Ghezo to end the [[Atlantic slave trade]]. Instead, Ghezo proposed expanding the trade in [[palm oil]] which the slaves could produce in Africa rather than be exported across the Atlantic. He went back to [[attack]]ing Abeokuta. After he lost in 1852, Ghezo decided to [[ban]] the slave trade but he went back to the [[war]]s against Abeokuta in 1858. The effort of the [[British Empire]] to end the [[slave trade]] made a major [[controversy]]. One [[faction]] known as the [[Fly]] faction said that