Most people who went through elementary school in the United States have heard the name Harriet Tubman, the former abolitionist and conductor of the underground railroad. Araminta Harriet Ross was born in the 1820’s in Auburn, New York. Three of her siblings were sold into slavery and her life was riddled with hardships. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and after that she started helping escape from their enslavement. She was known as the “Moses of her people, ” because she freed over 300 slaves in 19 trips during her 8 years as a conductor of the underground railroad. She is a heroine in U.S. history and is rarely given credit for the impact she had on the freeing slaves in the 1800s. In 2015, it was announced that Harriet Tubman would finally be getting recognition for her brave act of service by being put on the $20 dollar bill. Harriet Tubman will be replacing former president Andrew Jackson, a successful slave trader and proponent for ethnic cleansing.
The changing of the $20 bill was announced on June 17, 2015, by former Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew. Lew stated that the portrait would be completed by 2020 for the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. However, this was put on hold in the Trump Administration. The new Secretary of Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, put a halt to the changing of the $20 bill. The project was seen as ‘not a priority’. This upset many people, including Lew, who wrote in an open letter: “The decision to put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 was driven by thousands of responses we received from Americans young and old.”
Only two women have been portrayed on United States currency, and both on coins. Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea were both on $1 coins. ”It’s important that our notes — our money, if people don’t know what a note is — reflect the history and diversity of our country, and Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the new $20 note would certainly reflect that,” said current White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. The Biden Administration has renewed the plan to get Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, as well as the hopes of Tubman’s family. Harriet Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece, Ernestine “Tina” Martin Wyatt said, “We’re behind because of the last four years.” The current administration hopes to get this symbol of the American Dream onto the $20 bill by the end of 2021.
The Secretary of Treasury has the authority to select designs for U.S. currency, unless specified by an Act of Congress. The law prohibits the image of living persons from being used on currency. Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton join presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and Ulysses. S. Grant as portraits on currency.
Changes to U.S. currency to include more diverse portraits would match the more diverse make-up of our country and provide representation to an often downplayed aspect of history.