Mr. Garie is a wealthy white Southern planter who lives in Savannah with his multiracial family. Raised in a society built on enslavement, he initially fails to see the danger his family faces in the South. When his wife points out their precarious legal standing, he agrees to relocate them to Philadelphia so his family can be fully emancipated and educated.

Mrs. Garie is a Black woman who was originally purchased at a Savannah auction by Clarence, and she now lives as his wife. Pregnant with her third child, she recognizes the legal instability of their arrangement in Georgia. She persuades her husband to move the family North to ensure she and her children cannot be sold back into bondage.

Clarence is the biracial son of Mr. and Mrs. Garie. Moving to Philadelphia provides him his first opportunity to attend school, an act that was illegal in Georgia. He soon experiences the harsh realities of Northern prejudice when interacting with white children in his new neighborhood.

Emily is the young biracial daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Garie. She moves with her family to Philadelphia to receive an education and live free from the threat of enslavement. She integrates into the local Black community along with her brother.

Mr. Ellis is a free Black carpenter living in Philadelphia. He is an amiable, hardworking patriarch who takes his role as provider seriously. He reconnects with his old friend Mr. Winston and helps the Garie family set up their new home in the North.

Charlie is the intelligent, mischievous youngest child of the Ellis family. He loves school but is forced to leave to work as a servant in a white woman's house. Rejecting the servile role expected of a young Black boy, he engages in deliberate sabotage and boyish pranks to escape the position.

Mr. Stevens is a scheming lawyer with the nickname "Slippery George." He lives next door to the newly arrived Garie family in Philadelphia. Driven by racism and greed, he resents the prosperous Black community and actively plots to ruin property values for his own financial gain.

Mrs. Stevens is a homemaker and a virulent racist. When she visits her new neighbor, Mrs. Garie, and discovers she is a Black woman, she is completely outraged. She takes it upon herself to mobilize other white mothers to get the Garie children expelled from the local school.

Kinch is Charlie Ellis's loyal and comical best friend. He helps Charlie execute elaborate pranks—such as smuggling a cat into a dinner party—to ensure Charlie gets fired from his unwanted position as a servant. The son of a used clothing store owner, Kinch pays little attention to his appearance as a boy.

Mr. Walters is a highly successful Black real-estate developer in Philadelphia. He acts as a central community leader, using his considerable wealth and influence to support other Black citizens. He models himself after the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint l'Ouverture and provides housing for the Garie family.

Mrs. Ellis is a homemaker in Philadelphia. She works hard to maintain domestic harmony and sews to bring in extra income. Persuaded by a white client, she reluctantly agrees to send her intelligent youngest son to work as a household servant.

Esther is the beautiful and easy-going eldest daughter of the Ellis family. She sews garments to help support her family financially while attending lectures at the Black-run library to improve her education. She assists in preparing the Garie house for their arrival.

Caddy (Caroline) is the middle Ellis child. Characterized by a somewhat shrewish disposition, she is a dedicated house cleaner with little patience for nonsense. She takes the lead in scrubbing and preparing the new Philadelphia home for the Garies.

George Jr. is the son of the Stevens family. As a boy, he displays a casual cruelty and shares his parents' racial prejudices. He plays with the Garie children until his family's hostility ends their interactions.

Lizzy (Elizabeth) is the younger daughter in the Stevens household. Unlike the rest of her family, she is kind-hearted and lacks their deep-seated racial prejudice. She develops an innocent fondness for the Garie children next door.