In Dahomey of gold, devise a plan to move to Africa to colonize Dahomey (present-day Benin) with a group of poor American blacks. Having undergone bad luck, the conmen, Shylock Homestead (played by Bert Williams) and Rareback Punkerton (George Walker) are sent to Florida to con Cicero Lightfoot (Pete Hampton), the president of a colonization society. To his surprise, Punkerton discovers Homestead to be rich, and proceeds to become his trustee to gain access to Homestead's wealth. Once having gained access to Homestead's wealth, Punkerton struts around, acting as a dandy, or a refined figure in black society. Upon realizing Punkerton's schemes,
Dahomey was selected following his father's death after winning a succession struggle with a brother. King Agaja had significantly expanded the Kingdom of Dahomey during his reign, notably conquering Whydah in 1727. This increased the size of the kingdom and increased both domestic dissent and regional opposition. Tegbessou ruled over Dahomey at a point where it needed to increase its legitimacy over those who it had recently conquered. As a result, Tegbesu is often credited with a number of administrative changes in the kingdom in order to establish the legitimacy of the kingdom. The slave trade increased significantly during Tegbessou's reign