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Harriet Tubman Will Replace Andrew Jackson On The $20 Bill

Update: Tubman will be on the front of the bill and Jackson will be moved to the back.

April 20, 2016


Politico reports that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will announce several changes to American currency today. Harriet Tubman is expected to appear in some capacity on the $20, leaders of the women’s suffrage movement will appear on the back of the $10, and $5 bills will be altered to include pictures of leaders from the Civil Rights movement.

Lew faced criticism last summer when he contemplated replacing Alexander Hamilton on the $10 with a woman. He later affirmed his commitment to the Founding Father, noting to Politico, “There are a number of options of how we can resolve this. We’re not taking Alexander Hamilton off our currency.”

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According to The Atlantic’s Yoni Appelbaum, the $20 bill has a special significance for Tubman. Read a Twitter version of that story below.

Update (4/20 5:38 p.m.): As NPR reports, the bill will feature Tubman on the front and Jackson on the back.

"In a statement, the Treasury also announced that the new $20 note will keep an image of Jackson, who was a slaveholder, on the back. The new $10 bill will keep Hamilton on the front but in the back feature "an image of the historic march for suffrage that ended on the steps of the Treasury Department." Leaders of that movement—Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul — will be honored in the image.“

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Posted: April 20, 2016