The Colonial Question before Colonization: Philosophical and Economic Reflections on the July Monarchy

Abstract

The article examines the arguments of the discussion on colonization during the July monarchy. France had two colonial periods: one that ended around 1790 and one that began around 1860. The first concerned the American continent (West Indies, Canada, Louisiana) and India (Indian trading posts), the second - the African and Asian continents. Between these two periods, the debate on colonization was intense between its supporters and opponents. The French liberal school, led by men like Guizot, Tocqueville, or Passy, opposed colonization as well as slavery. Their arguments against this opposition are economic and humanitarian. Economic, because they consider colonization as something costly and useless for the country that carries it out, as it prevents the country from making the investments necessary for its development. Humanitarian, because they are shocked by the existence of slavery and the slave trade, which leads them to take political action to ensure that the trade is prohibited in areas held by Europeans. At the time of colonization, this movement was extended to the whole of Africa, which put an end to the slavery practised there. The arguments used during this period were taken up again from 1950 onwards at the time of decolonization.