We present a study of axial charges of baryon ground and resonant states with relativistic constituent quark models. In particular, the axial charges of octet and decuplet $N$, $Sigma$, $Xi$, $Delta$, $Sigma^*$, and $Xi^*$ baryons are considered. The theoretical predictions are compared to existing experimental data and results from other approaches, notably from lattice quantum chromodynamics and chiral perturbation theory. The relevance of axial charges with regard to $pi$-dressing and spontaneous chiral-symmetry breaking is discussed.