Biden’s Cabinet Hopes to Speed up Progress on Harriet Tubman $20 Bill
Press Secretary Jen Psaki wants to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill before 2028.
Harriet Tubman was born in 1820 on a plantation in Maryland. She is most famous for being a formerly enslaved woman who was a conductor for the Underground Railroad. However, she also was a Civil War nurse, a Union spy, and a women’s suffrage supporter. According to History.com, she led over 70 enslaved people to freedom.
While president in 1835, Jackson, a well-known slave owner, worked with the postmaster general to illegally censor anti-slavery pamphlets from getting from Northern abolitionists to the South. He was also responsible for the removal and deaths of Native Americans, with a mission to remove indigenous people so there was more land for plantations and slaves. His actions through the Indian Removal Act led to the Trail Of Tears where Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and other Native American tribes died. There were 4-8,000 deaths from the Cherokee tribe alone.
In 2016, President Obama decided that Tubman should be on the $20 bill with an original release for 2020 to align with the 100th anniversary of the women’s right to vote.
Twenty-dollar bill going from Andrew Jackson to Harriet Tubman — one symbol of difference between Trump and Biden. Proposed new design below: pic.twitter.com/e6xaukiSJJ
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 25, 2021
In 2019, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the release of the Harriet Tubman tender would be halted to focus on adding what he called “security features” and anti-counterfeiting steps.
There is speculation that Mnuchin stalled the bill because of former President Donald Trump’s affinity for Andrew Jackson. Trump hung a painting of Jackson in the Oval Office which has since been removed by Biden. At one point, Trump commented about Jackson, calling him “the people’s president.”
News of the 2019 delay resulted in a debit card released in Tubman’s image. There were also ink stamps sold to replace Andrew Jackson’s face with Harriet Tubman.
Jen Psaki announces the Treasury Department is resuming an Obama-era effort to put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 bill:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 25, 2021
“It’s important that our money reflect the history and diversity of our country.”pic.twitter.com/937uIAG7Zc
The last time a portrait on a bill was changed was in 1929. Tubman’s face on the bill would mean a lot for representation. So far, there have been no women or BIPOC on the currency in circulation except for special issued $1 coins which have featured Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea. This new bill is set to be official by 2026, reaching the public by 2028.
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