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,
History of the Kingdom of Dahomey him with significantly more power and money (the title "chacha" remains an important honorary position in Whydah to this day). In 1823, Ghezo led armies against Oyo and was this time able to end the tributary status of Dahomey and permanently weaken Oyo. Two major changes occurred in the 1840s and 1850s which significantly altered politics in Dahomey. First, the British who had been a major purchaser of slaves began taking an active stance in abolishing the slave trade in the 1830s. They sent multiple diplomatic parties to Ghezo to try to convince him to end Dahomey's participation in the