" American ideals in a way nothing yet had, and was passed even before the Constitution. It guaranteed, in the first article, freedom of religion. The third article stated the need for education, and in the sixth article, most important of all, it declared there would be no slavery. Until then, despite the claim that “all men are created equal,” slavery continued throughout all of the thirteen states. Now, in five new states, a territory as large as the original thirteen, there was to be no slavery. "

― David McCullough , The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West