By re-establishing slavery in the colonies, the Consulate regime put an end to the abolitionist interlude in France. Under the Napoleonic Empire, when racial theories were developed, abolitionists were forced to lie low or go into exile. Having neither popular support nor sources of funding, the liberals, nevertheless, continued the struggle, which fit into the tradition of the Enlightenment. One of the most prominent figures of French abolitionism was the abbe Gregoire, the author of pamphlets that stigmatized slavery as a crime. The collapse of the First Empire gave a new impetus to the abolitionist movement in France just at the time when the struggle for human rights was reaching the international level. The idea of the gradual abolition of slavery found more and more supporters. The first step along this path was recognized as the need to put an end to the negro trade. Following the example of England and the United States, France joined the movement to ban the importation of Negro slaves into the territory of its colonies. The article examines the government measures taken to implement such a good intention in the era of the Restoration and the July Monarchy, as well as the works of such prominent abolitionists as Abbe Gregoire and Victor Schoelcher.