By the turn of the century, Great Britain had gained influence over Ghanaian territories that led to the establishment of the Gold Coast Colony in 1874. With it came a growing number of mission schools and merchant companies, the Wesleyan and the Basel missions being the most prominent. The Wesleyan mission stayed on the coasts with English as their main language. The Basel mission expanded deeper inland and used vernacular languages as the medium of proselytizing. With the support of the British government, missions flourished in a heavily decentralized system that left considerable room for pedagogical freedom. Missions remained the main provider of formal education until independence. Under colonial rule, formal education remained the privilege of the few.