Editing Ghezo (section)

===Domestic dissent===
Domestic dissent was a significant problem throughout Ghezo's reign with different forces contesting his rule. Initially, after the coup against Adandozan, Ghezo had to secure support from a number of different individuals who helped bring him to power. Although he had initially presented himself as able to restore militaristic practices to Dahomey, which he argued Adandozan was unable to do, the early losses in his reign to the Mahi made him very unpopular. It is even reported that in 1825, he offered to return Adandozan to power but that Adandozan refused, hoping for a popular uprising against Ghezo.<ref name=Law-1997 />

To secure the support of different powerful people, Ghezo provided many of them with important positions. To secure the support of other princes, he appointed two of his brothers as the ''Migan'' and ''Mehu'' and transformed these into hereditary positions which they could pass to their sons.<ref name=Bay /> Since de Sousa was of crucial importance in Ghezo's rise to power, he named de Sousa the ''Chacha'' at Whydah, a position which would be the principal trade official in that port (and would also be passed to de Sousa's son).<ref name=Law-1997 /> As a symbolic strike against Adandozan's legacy, Ghezo appointed Agontime his ''[[Kpojito]]'' (or queen-mother, an important post in the Kingdom of Dahomey). Agontime was a wife of Agonglo, sometimes claimed to be the mother of Ghezo, who was sold into slavery when Adandozan came to power because she supported a rival to the throne.<ref name=Bay /> In [[São Luís, Maranhão|São Luís]], in the state of [[Maranhão]], she would have founded the [[Casa das Minas]] (House of Minas), an important temple that originated the [[Tambor de Mina]], an [[Afro-American religion|Afro-Brazilian religion]], establishing the cult of the ancestors of the royal family (voduns).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://extra.globo.com/noticias/religiao-e-fe/rosiane-rodrigues/a-rainha-mae-do-senhor-de-dois-reinos-uma-historia-real-1734759.html|title=A rainha-mãe do senhor de dois reinos – uma história real|date=2011-05-04|website=Extra Online|language=pt-BR|access-date=2019-02-07}}</ref> According to some versions, Ghezo was able to secure her release from Brazil and bring her back to the kingdom, although evidence of this is not clear.<ref name=Araujo />

When ending the slave trade became the crucial issue in the 1840s and 1850s, there developed two distinct factions which historian John C. Yoder has called the ''Elephant'' and the ''Fly'' parties.<ref name=Yoder>{{cite journal|last=Yoder|first=John C.|title=Fly and Elephant Parties: Political Polarization in Dahomey, 1840-1870|journal=The Journal of African History|year=1974|volume=15|issue=3|pages=417–432|doi=10.1017/s0021853700013566|s2cid=162286376 }}</ref> Ghezo was the head of the Elephant faction which supported opposition to the British demands to end the slave trade and was supported by key officials and the representatives of de Sousa. The Fly faction, in contrast, supported ending the slave trade and accommodating British demands.<ref name=Yoder /> The Fly faction grew more powerful with the British naval blockade of 1852 and Ghezo eventually agreed to end the slave trade; however, the Elephant faction and the interests of de Souza's family remained important for the rest of his reign.<ref name=Yoder /> Historian Robin Law largely believes that the elite factionalism to Ghezo developed in 1856 when he had reduced the slave trade.  In that year, a faction for the resumption of the slave trade formed, headed by the ''Migan'' and ''Yovogan'' (governor of Whydah) which pushed Ghezo toward resuming the slave trade in 1857.<ref name=Law-1997 />

One additional way that Ghezo maintained domestic support was by lengthening the ceremony cycle in the 1850s with additions to the [[Annual Customs of Dahomey|Annual Customs]] including a ceremony for the palm oil trade, one to celebrate ending tribute to the Oyo empire, and one dedicated to Ghezo himself (but to the time when he was a prince).<ref name=Bay />