The colonization of Africa and America by the European powers, especially Great Britain and France, occupies a not insignificant place in Tocqueville’s thought, but interpreters disagree on the significance of this theme for his work as a whole. At the heart of the debate is the question of Tocqueville’s interest in the French campaign in Algeria and what conclusions can, therefore, be drawn from it for his theory. Many answer this question by distinguishing between the theorist and the politician.