The speaker is the voice of the poem who speaks in the plural first-person "we," positioning themselves as a representative of the American people. They deliver a solemn, riddle-like history of the United States and focus on the concepts of gifts, surrender, and war. Their tone remains ambiguous and leaves their true feelings about the nation's history open to interpretation.

The land symbolizes the United States of America and is anthropomorphized as a woman. She acts as both a vulnerable territory and a demanding, queen-like figure who requires the Americans to surrender their individuality to her. She is described as "unstoried, artless, and unenhanced," yet she requires violent acts to secure her possession.

The Americans represent the collective group of colonists and settlers that the speaker claims to speak for. They are initially weak and hesitant, and they withhold themselves from fully embracing their new environment. To gain salvation and truly claim the territory, they must surrender their individual identities and commit deeds of war.

England is the imperial monarchy that originally governs the American colonies. It represents the old world and the original possessor of both the territory and the settlers. The Americans' break from England necessitates their new, complex relationship with the land.

The Indigenous people are the original inhabitants of the land who created advanced societies with roads, medicine, and dentistry. They build up much of the territory that allows early colonists to survive. Despite their deep connection to the environment, they face war and displacement from the expanding American nation.

The enslaved Black people are the millions forced into labor by the Americans to cultivate crops like cotton and tobacco. They build key structures like the White House, and their uncompensated labor makes the nation prosperous. History indicates they are the ones who truly give themselves outright to the land through their forced toil.