All men are born equally free.

“All men are born equally free.” Thus declared Salmon P. Chase, the great jurist, statesman, and moral sentinel of the American conscience. In these six simple words, he affirmed a truth as old as creation and as sacred as liberty itself—that freedom is not a gift bestowed by rulers, nor a privilege earned by merit, but a birthright written by the hand of the Creator upon every human soul. His words rise like a hymn from the heart of a nation divided, a cry of justice that pierced the chains of slavery and called humanity back to its divine foundation: that before God, no man is master and no man is slave.

The origin of this quote lies in the furnace of the nineteenth century, in a time when America was torn between its ideals and its injustices. Salmon Portland Chase, born in 1808, lived through the moral thunderstorm of the abolitionist era. As a lawyer, he defended fugitive slaves; as a senator and later Chief Justice of the United States, he stood firm upon the rock of equality. When he spoke these words, “All men are born equally free,” he was not uttering a platitude, but a defiance. He was confronting a world that had grown comfortable with bondage, a society that had forgotten its own founding creed. His voice, solemn and unwavering, echoed the same sacred truth proclaimed by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, yet demanded that those words be fulfilled, not merely spoken.

At its heart, Chase’s declaration is both spiritual and moral. To say that all men are “born equally free” is to affirm that liberty is woven into the very fabric of existence. It is not granted by law, for laws are the works of men, but ordained by nature, which is the work of God. No chains, no decrees, no empires can annul this truth. When a child is born, he enters the world unclothed, unranked, untitled; his worth is the same as that of kings or beggars, for his dignity comes not from station but from soul. Thus, every system that seeks to divide humanity into masters and subjects wages war not only against justice, but against the divine order itself.

Consider the story of Frederick Douglass, born a slave, yet destined to rise as one of freedom’s greatest voices. When he escaped bondage and took his first breath as a free man, he said that the sky seemed wider, the air sweeter, the world newly made. In that moment, he embodied Chase’s truth: though man can enslave the body, he cannot chain the spirit that knows it was born free. Douglass, through his words and deeds, proved that the condition of one’s birth cannot define the destiny of one’s soul. Chase, like Douglass, believed that freedom was not a privilege to be bestowed, but a truth to be realized—a light within each heart that must be defended against the shadows of tyranny.

And yet, Chase’s words carry a warning. If all men are born equally free, then it is the duty of every generation to preserve that equality, lest it be lost to greed, prejudice, or indifference. For freedom is not a flame that burns eternally on its own—it must be tended with courage, compassion, and vigilance. The tragedy of nations lies not in the loss of freedom’s memory, but in the willingness of free men to see others bound. The moment we deny the freedom of one, we endanger the freedom of all. Thus, Chase’s declaration is not merely a statement of fact—it is a summons. It calls upon the living to uphold what is right, to defend the dignity of every person, regardless of birth, race, or creed.

There is also in these words a quiet majesty, a reflection of divine order. For freedom, rightly understood, is not chaos nor selfish license—it is the harmony of self-governing souls. To be “born free” is to be born capable of choice, of conscience, of goodness. It is to stand upright before the world and say, “I am responsible for my own soul.” Chase knew that liberty divorced from virtue becomes corruption, and equality without moral order descends into envy. True freedom, therefore, must walk hand in hand with truth, humility, and love of justice.

So, my listener, hear the wisdom of Salmon P. Chase as though it were carved upon the stone of time: “All men are born equally free.” This is not a phrase to be admired—it is a truth to be lived. Do not measure a person by wealth, skin, or station, but by the light of their humanity. Defend the freedom of others as fiercely as your own, for to do so is to honor the law of heaven. And remember: freedom is not merely the absence of chains, but the presence of dignity—the right to think, to speak, to believe, and to dream as one’s conscience dictates.

For as long as men remember that they are born free, tyranny will never rest easy. And as long as there are voices like Chase’s, reminding the world that equality is the soul’s inheritance, humanity will never lose its way. Let his words be your creed: that in every heart burns the spark of liberty, and in every soul lives the divine right to be free.