The French in West Africa remained deeply ambivalent in regard to applying naturalization policies to their African subjects. Applying a distinction between ‘citizenship’ and ‘nationality’, this article traces the history of French colonial policy from 1789 through decolonization in the 1950s. Apart from the originaires of the four communes of Senegal, who had ill-defined rights of French citizenship without ever being considered French nationals, naturalization policy in West Africa became so restrictive that no more than sixteen individuals were granted French citizenship each year between 1935 and 1949. This article uses dossiers of naturalization cases from French West Africa.