French immigration to Puerto Rico () came about as a result of the economic and political situations which occurred in various places such as Louisiana, United States; Saint-Domingue, Haiti and in Europe. Other important factors which encouraged French immigration to the island was the revival of the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 in the late-19th century.
The Spanish Crown decided that one of the ways to discourage pro-independence movements in Puerto Rico (and Cuba) was to allow Europeans who were not of Spanish origin and who swore loyalty to the Spanish Crown to settle in the island. Therefore, the decree was printed in three languages—Spanish, English, and French—and circulated widely through ports and coastal cities throughout Europe.
The French who immigrated to Puerto Rico quickly became part of the Island immigrant communities, which were predominantly Catholic also. They settled in various places in the island. They were instrumental in the development of Puerto Rico's tobacco, cotton and sugar industries and distinguished themselves as business people, merchants, tradesmen, politicians and writers.
Situation in Louisiana
In the 17th century, the French settled an area of North America in what was then referred to as the "New World" which they named New France.
New France included an expansive area of land along both sides of the Mississippi River between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains, including the Ohio Country and the Illinois Country.
"Louisiana" was the name given to an administrative district of New France.New France Upon the conclusion of the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years' War (1754–1763), between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its North American colonies against France and Spain, many French settlers living in area now under British control (as a result of the Treaty of Paris) fled to the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and Puerto Rico to re-establish their commercial, trading and agricultural enterprises.
These islands were part of the Spanish and New World Catholic Empire, which accepted French settlers due to their shared religion and opposition to Great Britain.Historical Preservation Archive: Transcribed Articles & Documents
Frenchmen in the defense of Puerto Rico
When British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby attempted to invade Puerto Rico in 1797, many of the newly arrived French immigrants offered their services to the Spanish colonial government in Puerto Rico in defense of the Island that had taken them in when they fled from the Louisiana "Territory" of the United States. Among them was Corsair Captain and former French Navy officer Capt. Antoine Daubón y Dupuy, owner and captain of the ship "L'Espiégle" and another Frenchman named Captain Lobeau of the ship "Le Triomphant". Capt. Daubón, who had acquired a "Letter of Marque" from France was in the San Juan Bay area after having captured the American ship "Kitty", of Philadelphia, and was holding captive a crew of American sailors. French Capt. Daubón, son of Jacobin French Revolutionary activist, Raymond Daubón, was one of three registered corsairs in the Caribbean's Commercial Tribunal of Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, licensed to seize and capture enemy vessels on behalf of France.
Daubón offered his services and the use of his vessel and men to the Spanish Colonial Governor of Puerto Rico and together with the French Consul on the island, M. Paris, gathered a group of French immigrants in Puerto Rico and sent these troops to protect the entrance of San Juan at Fort San Gerónimo. Among the French surnames of those who fought on the Island were: Bernard, Hirigoyan, Chateau, Roussell, Larrac and Mallet. It is also worthy of note to mention that the British landed in San Juan harbor with 400 French prisoners of war, who were part of the invasion force. French Consul M. Paris, sent a letter addressed to the French prisoners of war, promising them a safe haven in San Juan if they defected, which was signed by Governor Castro.
Due in part to this successful effort, Abercromby's forces were further weakened when the French prisoners agreed to accept the offer from the French Consul in Puerto Rico and become settlers on the island.Andre Pierre Ledru, Voyage Aux Les Iles de Tenerife, La Trinite, St. Thomas, St. Croix et Porto Rico; p. 135 The invasion soon became bogged down and the British retreated from the island to their ships on April 30 and on May 2, set sail northward out of San Juan Harbor without the 400 French prisoners, who were to become part of the already established immigrant French community in Puerto Rico.
The newly arrived French immigrants joined other French residents in Puerto Rico, including some who had participated in resisting the invasion. Around 400 of the new arrivals remained on the island, and many later brought their families to France. Their descendants became involved in trade, commerce and other local enterprises, maintaining connections with France and other French colonial ports.
Haitian Revolution
In 1697, through the Treaty of Ryswick, the Spanish Crown ceded the western half of the island of Hispaniola to the French. The Spanish-controlled section of the island was named Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic), with the French-controlled section termed Saint-Domingue (which was later renamed Haiti). The French settlers dedicated themselves to the cultivation of the sugar cane and owned plantations, which required a huge amount of manpower. They enslaved and imported people from Africa to work in the fields. However, soon the population of the enslaved outgrew those of the colonizers. The enslaved lived under terrible conditions and were treated cruelly. In 1791, the enslaved African people were organized into an army led by General Toussaint L'Ouverture who rebelled against the French in what is known as the Haitian Revolution.Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography by J. R. Beard, 1863 The ultimate victory of the enslaved over their white colonizing masters came about after the Battle of Vertières in 1803. The French fled to Santo Domingo and made their way to Puerto Rico. Once there, they settled in the western region of the island in towns such as Mayagüez. With their expertise, they helped develop the island's sugar industry, converting Puerto Rico into a world leader in the exportation of sugar.The Haitian Revolution
Settling in Puerto Rico
A Frenchmen who escaped from then-Saint-Domingue was Dr. Luis Rayffer. Rayffer first lived in Mayagüez and in 1796 moved to the town of Bayamón where he established a prosperous coffee plantation."Cuaderno Histórico de Bayamón"; Page 20; Publisher: Instituto de Historia y Cultura Municipio de Bayamón – 1983
Juan Bautista Plumey came from Haiti with some slaves and married a woman from San Sebastián. In 1830 he established a coffee hacienda and by 1846, Plumey's hacienda which at the time was called , and later called Hacienda Lealtad, "was the only property labeled as an hacienda in official documents. He had 69 cuerdas planted in coffee worked by 33 slaves." Plumey did not allow his workers to work on any other farm.
Among the families who settled in Puerto Rico were the Beauchamps. Francois Joseph Beauchamp Menier, from St. Nazaire, France, was a member of the French Army stationed in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) with his family during the Haitian revolution. When the French ranks were disbanded he boarded a ship bound for Martinique, together with his wife Elizabeth Sterling and children. The boat however ran ashore in Puerto Rico instead of reaching Martinique. The Spanish government offered Beauchamp Menier land to cultivate and the family settled in the town of Añasco.
The family had thirteen children, including those who were born in Saint-Domingue (Santo Domingo, today). It is believed that all of the Beauchamps in Puerto Rico are descendants of Francois Joseph Beauchamp Menier and Elizabeth Sterling. The Beauchamp family was active in Puerto Rican politics. Among the notable members of this family are Eduvigis Beauchamp Sterling, named Treasurer of the revolution against Spanish colonial rule known as El Grito de Lares by Ramón Emeterio Betances. He was the person who provided Mariana Bracetti with the materials for the Revolutionary Flag of Lares. Pablo Antonio Beauchamp Sterling was a principal leader of the Mayagüez cell during the Lares Revolution. In the early 20th century another member of the family was an active member of the Puerto Rican independence movement, he was Elías Beauchamp, a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who assassinated Colonel Francis Riggs in 1936 in retribution of the events of the Río Piedras massacre. Carlos María Beauchamp Giorgi served as Mayor of Las Marias and Ramón Beauchamp Gonzáles was the Secretary of the Senate in 1916.
Situation in Europe
France and Corsica (an island ceded to France by Genoa in 1768) were going through many economic and political changes during the 19th century.
One of the changes occurred with the advent of the Second Industrial Revolution, which led to the massive migration of farmworkers to larger cities in search of a better way of life and better-paying jobs. Starvation spread throughout Europe as farms began to fail due to long periods of drought and crop diseases.Second Industrial Revolution in France by Hubert Bonin, Retrieved July 31, 2007
There was also widespread political discontent. King Louis-Philippe of France was overthrown during the Revolution of 1848 and a republic was established. In 1870–71, Prussia defeated France in what became known as the Franco-Prussian War. The combination of natural and man-made disasters created an acute feeling of hopelessness in both France and Corsica. Hundreds of families fled Europe and immigrated to the Americas, including Puerto Rico. All of this came about when the Spanish Crown, after losing most of her possessions in the so-called "New World", was growing fearful of the possibility of losing her last two possessions, Cuba and Puerto Rico.Documents of the Revolution of 1848 in France, Retrieved July 31, 2007
Royal Decree of Graces of 1815
In 1815, the Spanish Crown had issued a Royal Decree of Graces (Real Cédula de Gracias) with the intention of encouraging more commercial trade between Puerto Rico and other countries who were friendly towards Spain. This economic strategy directed at all of Europe and its colonies in the New World in the Caribbean, North, Central and South America.
The decree also offered free land to any Spaniard who would be willing to settle on the island and establish commercial and agricultural enterprises, i.e. plantations, farms and business that reached-out to other colonies.
In the mid-1800s, the decree was revised with many more immigrant-friendly enhancements which invited immigration for other non-Spanish-speaking European immigrants who were also Catholic.
The Spanish colonial governments did this, in an attempt to encourage settlers that would not be "pro-independence" and would show allegiance to Spanish colonial government. The newly revised decree now allowed all European immigrants of non-Spanish origin to settle the island of Puerto Rico. The decree was printed in three languages, Spanish, English and French and circulated throughout all of Europe, where there were already immigrant communities bound for the New World colonies.