Money possesses value, but not as much value as other, less tangible ideas. Some of those include freedom, appreciation, community, representation, and the list goes on. Recently there has been a lot of focus on representation, specifically, diverse representation. One way to satisfy this demand has been with the reintroduction of Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.
The initial formulation of this concept occured in 2016, at the end of President Barack Obama's final term. The effort, though considered, did not continue under President Donald Trump’s term. With the change in leadership, attention has once again returned to the future of the $20 bill’s historical portrait, as the Biden Administration has expressed a desire to pursue the revision, according to Reuters. The proposed redesign of 2016 features Harriet Tubman as the central image on the front of the bill, where Andrew Jackson has been for the past 93 years. The redesign would move Andrew Jackson to the back of the bill alongside the White House.
Many support this plan to remove Andrew Jackson from the front because of his endorsement of slavery, as he owned over a hundred slaves by the tiime of his death. He also gained infamy for his approval of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This survey, organized by C-SPAN regarding the efficacy of each president up to Barack Obama, ranked Andrew Jackson as 13th in 2000 and 2009. The most recent survey conducted in 2017 revealed his rank had lowered to 18th, with Jackson scoring especially low in the category “Pursued Equal Justice For All”.
Through all of this, public advocacy for Harriet Tubman’s presence on the $20 bill has been shown in some unique ways. In 2019, officials created a stamp to ink Harriet Tubman’s face over Andrew Jackson’s and garner more attention for the cause. Similarly in the early months of 2020, the bank OneUnited released a debit card embellished with a painting of Harriet Tubman by Addonis Parker.
Despite generally positive reactions to the idea and related movements, some people remain critical of the notion. Many of the individuals against it hold that position not because they believe Harriet Tubman does not deserve to be on the $20 bill; rather, they find it to be disrespectful to the legacy of the historical figure. According to this opinion article by TIME, putting Harriet Tubman’s likeness on money comes too close to the use of African-Americans as currency in the days when slavery plagued the southern states of America.
The use of paper money slowly wanes as the Information Era progresses, and eventually it may become entirely obsolete. Still, the motivation shown by many Americans to bring impactful historical figures to the present-day will surely pave the way for future movements to be made to honor past leaders, such as Harriet Tubman herself, who you can find more about here.