By Stephen Hall
Under the Trump administration, it appeared that the fight to place Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill had faltered. But this week advocates for the change received welcomed news. The Biden Administration announced it will take swift action to place Tubman’s image on the bill. White House Press Secretary Jenn Psaki said the following about the administration’s position on the issue: The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes. Its important that our notes, our money … reflect the history and diversity of our country and Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the new $20 note will certainly reflect that.” Despite the current success, the road to achieving this feat has been rocky. Its worth looking back on how the process evolved and our arrival at this moment.
On May 22, 2019 Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated that the Treasury Department would not address the issue of placing Tubman on the $20 bill until 2026, with the earliest implementation planned for 2028.
During questioning on Capitol Hill by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Mnuchin announced new security features will delay the redesign of the $20 bill. He cited security concerns and counterfeiting as possible reasons for the delay. He also suggested that security redesigns for the $10 and the $50 superseded similar work on the $20 bill. “The ultimate decision of the redesign will most likely be another secretary’s down the road,” Mnuchin said.
President Donald Trump strongly criticized the proposal and argued that Tubman’s placement on the $20 bill was the ultimate example of “pure political correctness” as a presidential candidate. He suggested that Tubman be placed on the $2 bill. Mnuchin also indicated in 2017, that the implementation of the currency redesign to place Tubman on the $20 bill was not a high priority for the president.
Proponents argue that Harriet Tubman’s many contributions to the national life warrant her placement on the $20 bill. She escaped enslavement, was a conductor on the Underground Railroad where she helped to free countless people, and was a spy and nurse the Union Army. Others have suggested that her inclusion would be a welcomed addition to the US paper currency, which exclusively features white men and no women.
In April 2016, then-Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced that Alexander Hamilton would be replaced with the image of Harriet Tubman on the $10 bill as a means of providing long overdue recognition to women in American history. At the time, the Treasury Department said that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing would work closely with the Federal Reserve to bring a Tubman bill into circulation by 2020. Its appearance would coincide with the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage.
President Trump voiced opposition to the Obama administration’s currency plan as a candidate and as president. Aware of how this type of opposition might postpone or even delay the proposed changes, Congress took action and introduced The Harriet Tubman Tribute Actin September 2017 although the bill died in committee.
A group of bipartisan legislators reintroduced the legislation in February and it is currently before the House Financial Services Committee. Legislators Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and John Katko (R-N.Y.), stressed the fact that Tubman’s presence on the $20 bill was more appropriate than that of its current occupant, Andrew Jackson. Tubman’s work to free the enslaved was more consistent with the constitutional values of the nation. Jackson, an enslaver and the mastermind behind the Trail of Tears, forced the relocation of thousands of Native Americans — notably the so-called Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and Chickasaw) from the eastern seaboard to the territories west of the Mississippi. These actions led to countless deaths and the dispossession of Native people.
The decision to place Tubman on the $20 bill is not without precedent and had broad support. Following the smash Broadway musical Hamilton and a viral campaign called Women on 20s, the Tubman redesign was shifted to the $20 bill. More than 600,000 voters nominated Tubman as a replacement for Andrew Jackson. In response, the Treasury Department came up with the alternative 2017 plan.
Hamilton remains on the $10 bill for now, but Tubman will make a permanent appearance on the nation’s currency shortly. Tubman’s appearance is not welcomed by all. In a recent op-ed in Time Magazine, historian Brittany Cooper criticized the move as disrespectful. She argues that Tubman fought to undermine slavery, which was a capitalistic institution based on Black exploitation. Rather than symbolic gestures, Cooper suggests that structural changes are necessary. She urges the nation to focus instead on interventions designed to improve the social, political, economic and health outcomes for African Americans. Cooper points out that “we don’t need America to put Black women on its money. We need America to put it’s money on Black women.”
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This post was previously published on Historian Speaks.
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Photo credit: Historian Speaks