Michel-Rolph Trouillot is a Haitian anthropologist and historian who uses his own background to analyze the production of history. Having grown up in Haiti during the oppressive Duvalier dictatorship, he was forced into exile as a student activist. These formative experiences teach him that history is actively shaped by power, inspiring his rigorous deconstruction of Western historical narratives.

Henry Christophe is a formerly enslaved man who becomes a Creole general and eventually King of Haiti. He recognizes the power of physical monuments in cementing historical narratives, famously constructing the grand Sans Souci Palace. He uses his political and architectural power to overwrite the legacy of his rivals.

Colonel Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci is an African-born guerrilla tactician who plays a critical role in resisting French forces. He represents a dissident faction that resents the centralized, Europeanized Creole leadership, leading to a complex internal power struggle. His subsequent assassination and historical erasure serve as a primary example of how history is silenced.

Christopher Columbus is the Genoese explorer whose 1492 arrival in the Americas becomes a site of massive historical fabrication. His historical persona is endlessly appropriated by diverse groups, from Spanish imperialists to marginalized Italian American immigrants, to serve their contemporary needs. The shifting meaning of his legacy demonstrates how historical significance is constructed retrospectively.

Toussaint Louverture is the brilliant leader of the Haitian Revolution who builds an autonomous administration while formally maintaining ties to France. His leadership of a successful rebellion against slavery is framed as an event that contradicts Western ideological frameworks. He is eventually captured by Napoleon's forces and dies in a French prison.

François Duvalier is the authoritarian president of Haiti who consolidates power through violent repression and his paramilitary force, the Tonton Macoute. His regime weaponizes historical narrative and propaganda to maintain control, creating a climate of terror that forces many intellectuals out of the country.

Jean-Claude Duvalier, known as Baby Doc, inherits the dictatorship of Haiti from his father and maintains authoritarian rule until 1986. His eventual overthrow sparks a popular uprising that leads citizens to physically tear down monuments associated with colonialism and his regime.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines is a Creole military leader who secures Haiti's independence in 1804. He attempts to unify the varying revolutionary factions, orchestrating negotiations with dissident leaders to consolidate supreme authority over the newly formed nation.

Hazel V. Carby is a scholar who praises the framework used to analyze historical silences. She uses the book to teach PhD students about the connections between knowledge, representation, and power.

Laura Wexler is an academic colleague who co-teaches an American Studies seminar. She helps students explore themes of archives, representation, and power through various texts and artworks.

Eric Hobsbawm is a prominent historian whose sweeping book on the Age of Revolution fails to adequately mention the Haitian Revolution. His work serves as a primary example of how formulas of erasure operate within professional academic history.

Léger Félicité Sonthonax is a French civil commissioner dispatched to Saint-Domingue. Western historical narratives often utilize him to banalize the revolution, crediting him with the abolition of slavery while downplaying the agency and military success of the enslaved people.

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo is a conservative leader and historian in Spain. He uses the 1890s quadricentennial of Columbus's voyage to stage a massive celebration intended to reassert Spanish national prestige and promote commercial ties with Latin America.