By Daniel Vega
As you may know, the month of February was Black History Month. The month in which we honor, reflect, and remember all of our African-American heroes, friends, their achievements, and strive to work toward a better future where all of our African-American friends feel appreciated and equal. What better way to celebrate Black History Month than to remember Harriet Tubman the great Abolitionist and talk about the ongoing effort to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
For those of you who do not know who Harriet Tubman is, she was a former slave who escaped slavery and established the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman is regarded by many as an American hero, her work on the Underground Railroad freed hundreds of slaves. Harriet Tubman was nicknamed “Moses” and people said that she “never lost a passenger”. Harriet Tubman was also a political activist, a leader in the American Abolitionist Movement. and served as a cook and nurse during the civil war. Harriet Tubman was later recruited as an armed scout and spy by the U.S. Army and became the first woman to lead an expedition during the civil war in which she freed about 700 more slaves. At the time nobody knew that Harriet Tubman was the one freeing slaves, instead, slave owners called her as previously mentioned, “Moses” thinking Harriet Tubman was a man. Harriet Tubman was the reason why the “Fugitive Slave Act of 1850” was signed into law. This law allowed slaves to be returned to slave owners even if they were no longer in the south, something that Harriet Tubman disobeyed by taking hundreds of slaves further north to Canada, something that saved many slaves’ lives.
As of 2021 talks to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill have resumed. This, however, isn’t the first time that putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill has been discussed, in 2016 then-Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the process had begun to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Andrew Jackson was the 7th U.S. president, he had reportedly owned close to a hundred slaves, fought Native Americans over independence, forced Native Americans to give up their land and relocate, and brought twelve slaves to work for him in the White House. Jacob Lew has said about putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill that, “With this decision, our currency will now tell more of our story and reflect the contributions of women as well as men to our great democracy.” The timeline set forth by former Treasury Secretary Lew included having the new Harriet Tubman $20 bills released in 2020, however, when the Trump administration took office and Steven Mnuchin was sworn in as Treasury Secretary, the effort the put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill was brought to an abrupt halt, with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin saying that the redesign would be delayed 6 years and may no longer have featured Harriet Tubman.
There is a new Treasury Secretary now though, Janet Yellen was sworn in as the first female Treasury Secretary on January 26, 2021. The Biden Administration has announced that it will speed up the effort to place Harriet Tubman on the $20 dollar bill, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying that, “The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes. It’s important that our money reflect the history and diversity of our country.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has taken the lead on ensuring that Harriet Tubman be placed on the $20 bill. If this effort succeeds Harriet Tubman will be the first Person of Color and Woman to be shown on any U.S. currency. Although the new $20 bill with Harriet Tubman may not be printed for a few years, it may take as long as 10 years for the Harriet Tubman $20 bills to become mainstream. The $20 dollar bill may not be the only bill that gets changed either, if the Treasury Department is revisiting this effort by former Treasury Secretary Lew, they may revisit others like altering the $5 and $10 bills.
Harriet Tubman is regarded as a great American leader and this month we honor her and all other African-Americans by once again writing history and resuming efforts to place Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
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