The law of the Creator, which invests every human being with an inalienable title to freedom, cannot be repealed by any interior law which asserts that man is property.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the inherent right to freedom that every person possesses, despite any laws or systems that may deem otherwise.
Salmon P. Chase's quote articulates a profound belief in the fundamental nature of human freedom, arguing that this right is innate and cannot be overridden by unjust laws that treat individuals as property. It serves as a reminder that true freedom is a birthright, granted by the Creator, and no human-made law can morally invalidate this essence of humanity. This perspective is a powerful assertion against slavery and oppression, emphasizing the inviolability of personal liberty.
In practice
In a speech advocating for civil rights, one could use this quote to highlight the injustice of discriminatory laws.
My agency in promoting the passage of the National Bank Act was the greatest financial mistake of my life. It has built up a monopoly, which affects every interest in the country. It should be repealed, but before that can be accomplished, the people will be arrayed on one side and the banks on the other, in a contest such as we have never before seen in this country.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of all mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
Once I should have been, if not satisfied, partially, at least, contented with suffrage for the intelligent and those who have been soldiers; now I am convinced that universal suffrage is demanded by sound policy and impartial justice.
I think people really need to think what it's like to have all of society arrayed against you.
As one reads history, not in the expurgated editions written for schoolboys and passmen, but in the original authorities of each time, one is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted; and a community is infinitely more brutalised by the habitual employment of punishment than it is by the occasional occurrence of crime.
You can't keep a juvenile moral institution alive on two displays of its sash per year.
A man builds a house in England with the expectation of living in it and leaving it to his children; we shed our houses in America as easily as a snail does his shell.
Every moment of the night Forever changing places And they put out the star-light With the breath from their pale faces
Men judge by the complexion of the sky The state and inclination of the day.
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