The census of 1790 reflects the decline, but not disappearance, of slavery in the North and its persistence and growth in the South. The manumissions of the revolutionary years left many free blacks in the North and the Chesapeake region, but the majority of African Americans were still in slavery.

Slave and Free Blacks: Distribution, by States, 1790

 Free Black Slave State Population Population Maine 536 — New Hampshire 630 157 Vermont 269 — Massachusetts 5,369 - Rhode Ialand 3,484 958 Connecticut 2,771 2,648 New York 4,682 21,193 New Jersey 2,762 11,423 Pennsylvania 6,531 3,707 Delaware 3,899 8,887 Maryland 8,043 103,036 Virginia 12,866 292,627 North Carolina 5,041 100,783 South Carolina 1,801 107,094 Georgra 398 29,264 Kentucky 114 12,430 Tennessee 361 361 United States 59,557 697,624 Source: Jessie C Smith & Currel p. Horton, eds ,Historical statistics of black America(Detroit Gail research,1995