Editing Benin (section)

===Colonial===
{{See also|Second Franco-Dahomean War}}
[[File:Bénin- 1893.jpg|thumb|A French depiction of the conquest of Dahomey in 1893]]
By the middle of the 19th century, Dahomey had "begun to weaken and lose its status as the [[regional power]]". The French took over the area in 1892. In 1899, the French included the land called [[French Dahomey]] within the larger [[French West Africa]] colonial region.

France sought to benefit from [[Dahomey]] and the region "appeared to lack the necessary agricultural or [[mineral resources]] for large-scale [[capitalist development]]". As a result, France treated Dahomey as a sort of preserve in case future discoveries revealed resources worth developing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manning |first=Patrick |title=Slavery, Colonialism and Economic Growth in Dahomey, 1640–1960 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780511563072 |pages=15}}</ref>

The [[French government]] outlawed the capture and sale of slaves. Previous [[slaveowners]] sought to redefine their control over slaves as control over land, [[tenants]], and lineage members. This provoked a struggle among Dahomeans, "concentrated in the period from 1895 to 1920, for the redistribution of control over land and labor. Villages sought to redefine boundaries of lands and fishing preserves. Religious disputes scarcely veiled the factional struggles over control of land and commerce which underlay them. Factions struggled for the leadership of great families".<ref name=":1" />

In 1958, France granted [[autonomy]] to the [[Republic of Dahomey]], and full independence on 1 August 1960 which is celebrated each year as [[Independence Day]], a [[Public holidays in Benin|national holiday]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://apanews.net/en/news/president-sirleaf-congratulates-benin-on-57th-independence-anniversary |title=President Sirleaf congratulates Benin on 57th Independence Anniversary |date=31 July 2017 |work=Agence de Presse Africane |access-date=30 July 2018 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730234816/http://apanews.net/en/news/president-sirleaf-congratulates-benin-on-57th-independence-anniversary |archive-date=30 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The president who led the country to independence was [[Hubert Maga]].<ref name="Stokes2009">{{cite book |editor-last=Stokes |editor-first=Jamie |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East: L to Z |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gaFvrgEACAAJ |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7158-6 |page=229 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503171808/https://books.google.com/books?id=gaFvrgEACAAJ |archive-date=3 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Araujo2010">{{cite book |last=Araujo |first=Ana Lucia |title=Public Memory of Slavery: Victims and Perpetrators in the South Atlantic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kymzngEACAAJ |year=2010 |publisher=Cambria Press |isbn=978-1-60497-714-1 |page=111 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617084013/https://books.google.com/books?id=kymzngEACAAJ |archive-date=17 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>