annexing the lands of the Asebu, Cabesterra, and Agona. The Fante were allies of the British who supported their efforts against the rival Dutch, who were aligned with the Ashanti. The Fante Confederacy was smaller than the Ashanti, but through their control of the coastal trade and close links with the British, the Fante became the administrators of the entire Gold Coast. The Fante leaders were the best-educated and wealthiest of the people's in the region. Economy The Fante established long-distance maritime trade links with the kingdom of Kongo around the Congo-Angola region. This was accomplished with dugout canoes powered by sails of woven palm fronds. Conflict with the Ashanti For the first half of the eighteenth century, the Ashanti were pre-occupied with expanding their confederacy to the north rather than against the stronger coastal groups. The next few decades saw internal disputes within Ashanti. The Fante subsequently intervened, lending material support to rebel groups in Ashanti and offering safe harbour to refugees and dissidents fleeing the Ashanti Confederacy. The Fante introduced laws forbidding the selling of firearms to the Ashanti and curtailing the amount of trade that could pass between over Fante lands, cutting off supplies to the confederacy. By the early nineteenth century the Ashanti had consolidated the large parts of the middle region under their rule and began to plan for a full-scale invasion of the Fante Confederacy. In 1806 the Ashanti-Fante War began. The British largely confined their role in the conflict to supplying the Fante with military equipment and supplies, continuing a decades-long tradition. The British continued sometimes to work with the Fante to curtail the Ashanti. With advice from the British in 1811 the Fante again went to war. While defeated in open battle the Fante were able to win the war by forcing the Ashanti to withdraw by employing guerilla tactics. For the next several decades the Fante worked to play the Ashante off against the British while maintaining their independence, over time, however, British influence came to dominate the Fante lands. In 1844 the Fante leaders agreed to a bond with the British that made the area a protectorate of the British, but guaranteed internal control would remain with the local rulers. Tensions with the Europeans However, the British soon began to exceed the agreement, and intervened in life along the coast. The Fante leaders were displeased and felt the British were