Sometimes, the right side of history is too obvious to ignore. So it is that a 9-year-old Massachusetts girl named Sofia wrote last year to President Barack Obama: “Why don’t women have coins or dollar bills with their faces on it?”
Good question. Aside from the unpopular Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, which was minted from 1979-81 and again in 1999, U.S. currency long has been the purview of white men. But Sofia’s query to the president helped mint (sorry) a grass-roots movement to place a woman’s likeness in Americans’ wallets, and that movement reached a milestone Wednesday when the U.S. Treasury announced that Harriet Tubman will replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.
It is a worthy honor for a woman who was born a slave, escaped, and then helped some 300 slaves reach freedom as a conductor on the underground railroad. During the Civil War, she worked as a spy, scout and nurse for the Union, and in later years she advocated for education and women’s suffrage.
Such accomplishments are easily contrasted with those of Jackson, who was a hero in the War of 1812 and served as the nation’s seventh president. As president, he forced the relocation of Native American tribes, which resulted in the “Trail of Tears.” He also opposed paper money, instituting policies that contributed to the Panic of 1837, and established a spoils system of patronage.
But the smart money (oops, did it again) says that Wednesday’s decision will be celebrated in part because it preserves Alexander Hamilton for the $10 bill. Speculation had been that Tubman or another woman would replace the Founding Father and first secretary of the Treasury on the sawbuck. That became problematic with interest sparked by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s extraordinary — and extraordinarily popular — hip-hop Broadway musical about Hamilton’s life. The soundtrack is a must-listen, and Miranda won a Pulitzer Prize this week for drama, but we shall summarize the musical this way: Just like his country, Hamilton was young, scrappy and hungry.
All of which brings up questions about just what we are attempting to acknowledge by placing people on currency. With examples such as George Washington on the $1 bill, Abraham Lincoln on the $5 bill, and Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill — plus Thomas Jefferson on the nearly forgotten $2 bill — U.S. currency long has served as an opportunity to honor the efforts and the values that helped build this nation. In addition to providing a nod to gender equity and racial equality, Tubman’s life story certainly reflects those values.
Meanwhile, there is nothing written in stone — or on paper — about who should appear on U.S. currency, and changing it does not require an act of Congress. Jackson has been on the $20 bill since the 1920s, when he replaced Grover Cleveland; prior to that he was on the $10 bill before being supplanted by Hamilton. The design for the Tubman bill, which is expected to have additional images of women on the back, is expected to be unveiled in 2020 and likely will not enter circulation for several more years. Ideally, the currency will be used starting in 2020 in recognition of the centennial of women’s suffrage.
Either way, the U.S. Treasury has joined the right side of history in honoring Harriet Tubman, reducing Andrew Jackson to the back pages of history, and preserving Alexander Hamilton for the $10 bill. We’ll just say their judgment is on the money (couldn’t resist).
