it's a free country

it's a free country

1. Said when others seek to restrict one's behavior as a way of pointing out that an action is not illegal or forbidden.
   • 1832, James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna; a Descriptive Tale‎, pages 169–170:

     "No, indeed! and I shan't do sitch a thing, Benjamin. This treatment is a newity to me, and what I won't put up with. I have a hundred and fifty dollars at use, besides a bed and twenty sheep, to good; and I don't crave to live in a house where a body musn't call a young woman by her given name to her face. I will call her Betsy as much as I please ; it's a free country, and no one can stop me. I did intend to stop while summer, but I shall quit to-morrow morning and I will talk just as I please."

   • 1972, James Warren, “More Nixon Tapes A selection from recordings in the National Archives”, in The Atlantic‎:

     RN: You think you should not have gone?
     TN: Yeah, I think it was a bad one to do. It was a good idea, but we shouldn't have gone to the University of Maryland … It was the motliest crew you've ever seen.
     RN: Well, that's my view about going to the universities. Well, I hope it didn't bother you too much.
     TN: No, it didn't. It was just—I know, I was just embarrassed because the Chinese issued a complaint.
     RN: A complaint about what?
     TN: Oh, you know, that they were being rude to the chairman—they were insulting Chairman Mao. There was nothing we could do! It's a free country!

   • 1979, Jimmy Carter, “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, page 1573:

     :I might say the young people in the back that had the banner which I couldn't read—it was already torn down when I saw it—you know, this is a free country. And I'm President, and I think it's very good—even when people express themselves that way—I'm not embarrassed by it. I think the reaction of all of you, because you were disturbed, did its job. There's no need for me to embarrass them. So, I think it's a proper place in our country for people to raise a banner or to ask the President a difficult question or to shout out a criticism.
     I don't have any problem with that. It's a free country. I want to keep it that way.

   "You can do what you want... it's a free country!"

• it's a free country at Google Ngram Viewer
• “it's a free country, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.