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The collapse of the French colonial empire was affirmed by the French Revolution, despite Napoleon’s efforts to win back the lost colonies around the turn of the nineteenth century. This decline was accompanied by strong criticism of colonial institutions and the colonization process from economists. The period from 1750 to 1789 saw the first discussions of the basic principles surrounding these issues, with the economic arguments becoming increasingly important as far as commentators such as Say, Canard, and Sismondi were concerned. Criticism was not universal, however. On the basis of a different economic calculation, some commentators, including Ferrier, Ganilh, and Page, came to adopt a far more favorable position on colonial institutions. JEL Classification: B12