The Treasury Department is expected to announce today that Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill. It is likely that Jackson will remain on the $20 bill but instead be featured on the back.
This isn’t likely to be a quick process, though. The design won’t be ready until roughly 2020, but that is sooner than many lobbying for monetary change expected.
Not everyone will be happy about the change. Feminista Jones has argued that Tubman would not have wanted to be displayed on currency. She also isn’t sure how the representation of a woman on the bill will be more than a token displaying equality that we don’t yet possess.
There are many reasons to embrace the removal of Jackson as the face of the twenty, from signing the Indian Removal Act to his wealth accumulated from slavery.
Last year, there was some talk of taking Alexander Hamilton off of the $10 instead. Earlier this week, it was announced that this would no longer be the case.
It could be, in part, because the Broadway hit “Hamilton” has the founding father on the public conscience. Hamilton did, after all, accomplish a lot. His standing as our first Treasury Secretary does seem to ensure that Washington’s right-hand man stay on our currency.
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda shared the following last month after visiting the Treasury:
I talked to @USTreasury about this on Monday. Sec. Lew told me "you're going to be very happy." #wegetthejobdone https://t.co/ZkLFuSmz8M
— ?♀️An-hell-ica,?♀️Elvira…and FREDDY?♂️ (@Lin_Manuel) March 16, 2016
The fact that “Hamilton” just won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Drama earlier this week sure doesn’t hurt.
The $10 is likely to change somewhat, though, with suffragette leaders being placed on the back.
Featured image via Ron Cogswell/Flickr, available under a Creative Commons 2.0 License.
