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 later 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: the Spanish language, the English language, and the French language 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. 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.
Frenchmen in the defense of Puerto Rico
When the British attempted to invade Puerto Rico in 1797 under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, 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 Royal Naval officer of the French Navy, 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 soldiers.
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 successfully 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 attempted to land in San Juan harbor with a force of 400 French prisoners of war, who were conscripted by the British to take part in the invasion attempt.
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, the British 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.
The English invasion quickly floundered and the British retreated on April 30, from the Island to their ships and on May 2, set sail northward out of San Juan Harbor without their 400 French prisoners, who were to become part of the already established immigrant French community in Puerto Rico.