Racial discrimination remained widespread.
At the same time, the Southern states which were dependent on slavery for their economic prosperity showed little interest in applying the doctrines of the Declaration of Independence to either the slaves or the free blacks in their midst.

If anything, the passage of stiffer black codes increased the rights of the masters while diminishing those of slaves and freedmen.

Some Southern states had qualms about the advisability of continuing the slave trade, but this did not mean that they had doubts about the value of slavery.

Rather, the number of slave insurrections which swept through South America, highlighted by the bloody revolt in Haiti, led them to fear possible uprisings at home.
They had always been cautious about bringing unbroken slaves directly from Africa, and now they were also afraid to import unruly slaves from South America.
In 1783 Maryland passed a law prohibiting the importation of slaves, and in 1786 North Carolina drastically increased the duty on the importation of slaves, thereby severely reducing the flow.

The Federal Government finally took action to terminate the slave trade in 1807, but a vigorous, illegal trade continued until the Civil War.