14 French refugees built a 225-year American dynasty

The du Pont family's journey from 14 French refugees in 1800 to builders of an American industrial dynasty mirrors the nation's 250-year experiment in free enterprise.

When Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and 13 family members landed in America on Jan. 1, 1800, fleeing the French Revolution, they carried little more than ambition. That gamble built a company that supplied gunpowder for the War of 1812, plutonium for the Manhattan Project and nylon for Allied parachutes in between — a 225-year arc that tracks the rise of American industrial power itself.

"Their descendants were given the privilege of belonging to it, serving it, arguing within it, building in it, and loving it," Ben duPont, co-founder of Chartline Capital and a descendant, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published June 27, as the U.S. approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

DuPont's gunpowder mills on the Brandywine River near Wilmington, Delaware, supplied the Union army during the Civil War and became a major source of smokeless powder for Allied forces in World War I. During World War II, the company designed, built and operated the world's first full-scale plutonium-production reactor in Hanford, Washington, for the Manhattan Project — accepting a fee of $1 and returning all profit to the government. DuPont also held a controlling stake in General Motors, which converted from civilian manufacturing to wartime production of trucks, tanks, aircraft and ship engines for the Allied campaign.

The du Pont story illustrates a broader pattern central to American economic strength: Immigrants have founded or co-founded 59 percent of the 775 privately held U.S. startups valued at $1 billion or more, according to a recent analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy. As the U.S. marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the question is whether the institutions that attracted those 14 French refugees — open markets, legal protections, social mobility — will endure for the next wave of builders.

The Manhattan Project and National Service

DuPont's role in the Manhattan Project revealed something distinctive about American capitalism, duPont wrote. Universities, government, soldiers, scientists and private companies came together under perilous circumstances to do what many had deemed impossible. Company leaders were initially wary, worried about safety, failure and accusations of profiteering. They accepted the job only after President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote with a personal appeal. The arrangement — a $1 fee with profit returned to the government — showed what duPont described as a central truth: "Free enterprise joined to national purpose can become a decisive strategic advantage."

The DuPont-GM relationship during the war years reinforced that lesson. The automobile conglomerate built the matériel that powered the Allied advance, while DuPont supplied the explosives, nylon parachutes and Lucite airplane turrets. Together, they demonstrated how private industry could pivot to national service at scale — a model that would resurface in later conflicts and, more recently, in defense-related technology partnerships.

Immigrant Entrepreneurship Then and Now

The du Ponts were among the earliest of what became a defining American pattern. At the time of the revolution, the U.S. drew ambitious people by offering rights and legal protections, open markets, abundant land and social mobility. Today, the country attracts entrepreneurs for many of the same reasons: deep capital markets, world-class universities, sophisticated customers, a culture that tolerates failure and a belief that a person's future need not be determined by birth.

The 59 percent figure for immigrant-founded unicorns shows the continued importance of that draw. Companies such as Elon Musk's Tesla, Sergey Brin's Google and countless others trace their origins to founders who arrived from abroad — a lineage that connects directly to the du Ponts' arrival in 1800. But duPont warned that the magnet can lose its strength. "If we punish risk, overregulate builders, sneer at industry, neglect education, or close the door to people who want to contribute, we will become less exceptional," he wrote.

What's at Stake for the Next 250 Years

The U.S. remains the best place to turn an idea into a company, duPont argued. The entrepreneurial ecosystem works as well for customers: talent meets opportunity, opportunity attracts capital, capital builds products, products meet customers, customers invite competition, and competition drives progress that reverberates globally. This, he said, is American exceptionalism properly understood — not a claim that Americans are inherently better, but a recognition that the country's institutions, habits and freedoms have made ordinary people capable of extraordinary creation.

The stakes are measurable. If the U.S. maintains its current rate of immigrant-founded startup creation, the next 250 years could see a continuation of the pattern that began with 14 refugees on a ship in 1800. If it erodes those foundations, duPont suggested, the country risks losing the very engine that made it exceptional. To honor America at 250, he concluded, Americans should preserve the ideals and promises that made the country a magnet for builders — and pass along that promise stronger than when they received it.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.