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Frenchness and the colonial situation: Nation, empire and race in French Louisiana (1699-1769) Through the case of French Louisiana, this essay will demonstrate that the formation of new colonial societies in the Americas, which relied on slave or forced labor, the formation of multiethnic and multiracial empires, and the imperial rivalries that developed along with these phenomena, launched a debate on the nation. On the one hand, having a national identity became significant for a growing number of people. On the other hand, the definition given to the French nation, in opposition to other nations and in relation to the different groups that were part of it, began to transform. By questioning the concepts of “colonial empire”, “nation”, and “identity”, and by analyzing the peculiar meanings of Frenchness in the Louisiana context, this article will suggest that we cannot discuss the concept of nation in the eighteenth century without taking into account the complex relationships between nation, empire, and race.