Kingdom of Dahomey · about 1650-1894

Dahomey: the kingdom of Abomey

From its inland capital Abomey, Dahomey fought its way to the coast, paid tribute to Oyo and grew rich and powerful through the slave trade. Students meet its women soldiers and King Behanzin, who fought the French army.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1783 to AD 1914
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

From its inland capital Abomey, Dahomey fought its way to the coast, paid tribute to Oyo and grew rich and powerful through the slave trade. Students meet its women soldiers and King Behanzin, who fought the French army.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Abomey, Ouidah and Dahomey's neighbor Oyo.
  • Explain why Dahomey conquered the coast and how the slave trade shaped the kingdom.
  • Describe Dahomey's resistance to the French conquest of 1890-1894.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1783

An inland kingdom

Open the map in 1783 and find the label Dahomey. Then find Oyo to its north-east. Dahomey paid tribute to this bigger neighbor for decades. Which looks larger?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1783

The road to the sea

Zoom in between Abomey and the coast. In 1727 King Agaja captured the port of Ouidah. Why did an inland kingdom want a port?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1914

French conquest

Move to 1900, then to 1914. What happens to Dahomey on the map? Which empire takes its place?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. King Agaja fought his way to the coast in the 1720s. What did control of a port give a kingdom?
  2. Dahomey grew rich by selling captives. How did that make the kingdom both strong and dependent on others?
  3. Dahomey had a regiment of women soldiers, the Agojie. Why might a king recruit women soldiers?
  4. After Britain pushed to end the slave trade, King Ghezo also began selling palm oil. How hard is it to change what an economy depends on?
  5. King Behanzin burned his own capital rather than let the French take it intact. What does that say about how he saw the war?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Peter the Great, who ruled while King Agaja was building Dahomey's power in the 1720s. Compare: how did each ruler use a well-trained army to reach the sea?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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