UNITED STATES

If a group of campaigners has its way, by 2020, when Americans withdraw cash from an ATM, it will be Harriet Tubman’s portrait gracing the $20 bill, not Andrew Jackson’s. (Christian Science Monitor)

Use our resources to learn more about Harriet Tubman.

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit, including today’s poll.

Discussion Ideas

• Why do people want to change the portrait on the $20?
  • A woman’s portrait does not appear on any paper currency of the United States, and a grass-roots organization, Women on 20s, thinks that should change. Leaders from President Barack Obama to talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres agree.
  • 2020 is the centennial of the 19th amendment, which guaranteed women’s right to vote. It would be a symbolic recognition of a major civil rights milestone.

 

• What’s wrong with Old Hickory?
  • Andrew Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, led a controversial life. He owned hundreds of slaves, killed a man in a duel, and was largely responsible for the “Trail of Tears,” the brutal, forced removal of Native Americans from the Southeast.
  • Jackson favored “specie” (gold and silver coins) over paper currency notes, so some critics say his inclusion on a bill is ironic.

 

• Why do supporters think Harriet Tubman deserves to have her portrait on the $20 bill?
  • Tubman was an American hero, nicknamed “Moses” by the dozens of slaves she ushered to freedom through the Underground Railroad in the 19th century.

 

• Who else did “Women on 20s” consider in their online poll?
  • The finalists were Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Wilma Mankiller.

 

• Harriet Tubman wasn’t a president—don’t you have to be a president to be on a bill?
  • Nope!
    • Alexander Hamilton, first secretary of the treasury, is on the $10 bill.
    • Benjamin Franklin, all-around Founding Father, is on the $100 bill.

 

• What are the rules about portraits on paper currency?
  • By law, only deceased people may appear on currency.
    • Harriet Tubman qualifies: She died 102 years ago.
  • Informally, people featured on paper currency should be “well-known to the American public.” Harriet Tubman qualifies:
    • Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist who literally risked her life for the freedom of others as arguably the most well-known conductor on the Underground Railroad.
    • She was a spy for the Union during the Civil War.
    • She was the first woman in American history to lead a military expedition.
    • A U.S. national park unit, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument, is named in her honor.
    • A Canadian national park unit, the Salem Chapel BME Church Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Site in St. Catherines, Ontario, is named in her honor.
    • Harriet Tubman’s home, museum, and gravesite are popular historic sites.
    • A liberty ship, the U.S.S. Harriet Tubman, launched in 1944.
    • She appeared on a postage stamp in 1978.

 

• Does the president or Congress need to approve a change to the appearance of currency?
  • Nope. According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, “The Secretary of the Treasury is responsible for the selection of the designs, including the portraits, which appear on paper currency.”

 

• Why are some people criticizing the idea of Harriet Tubman appearing on the $20 bill?
  • Some critics think the U.S. should continue to recognize President Jackson, citing:
    • his legacy as a military leader in the War of 1812
    • the fact that slavery was legal at the time of his presidency, and common among owners of large plantations in the South
    • the idea that the Indian Removal Act is misrepresented as racist, and was in fact “a long-term solution to a crisis that was threatening the stability and strength of the nascent American union as well as the existence of the Cherokee as a people.”
  • Some critics think a $20 bill with Harriet Tubman’s portrait would be “hush money” that won’t address the ongoing issues of race in the U.S. “I don’t want Harriet Tubman’s face on a $20 bill,” says one critic. “I want our people to be free from the chains of institutionalized racism and economic slavery. That’s how we honor her.”

 

TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT

Christian Science Monitor: Will Harriet Tubman grace $20 bills? Why some groups don’t want that.

Nat Geo: Who was Harriet Tubman?

U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing: FAQ