The Dollar Explained

Harriet Tubman

Speaker: Chuck Rolando (Standard American accent)

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Anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman made history. And now she is making history again. She will be the first woman and the first African American to appear on a major US currency note. She will feature on the front of the new $20 bill. She replaces Andrew Jackson, the seventh US President and a slaveholder. Jackson’s image will be on the back of the redesigned $20 note.

FREEDOM

Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave who helped to free others. When Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced the changes to the $20 bill, he said:  “Harriet Tubman is not just a historical figure, but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy.” Tubman was born into slavery. After she escaped from slavery, Tubman often returned to the South to help lead other slaves safely to the Northern free states and to Canada. She and other activists used a special network of safe houses called the Underground Railroad. Later she fought for women’s right to vote.

THE MUSICAL

The Treasury Department’s decision to put a woman on a US currency note has captivated the country. The initial proposal was to put a woman on the $10 bill, which currently features a portrait of Alexander Hamilton. He was one of the country’s founding fathers and he helped create the US banking system. Today he is – somewhat surprisingly – the subject of a Broadway musical that features hip hop! Clearly, Hamilton is popular. Many people told the Treasury Department that Hamilton, the first US Treasury Secretary, should stay on the $10 bill. They suggested removing Jackson from the $20 bill.  Not only did Jackson own slaves,  he also moved Native Americans from their land.

suffragettes

Hamilton will stay on the front of the $10 note. On the reverse, the redesigned $10 bill will honour the leaders of the suffrage movement — Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul.
The reverse of the new $5 bill will honour events at the Lincoln Memorial that helped shape US history, and individuals at those events, including Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr. President Abraham Lincoln will remain on the front of the $5 bill.
The final designs for the new $20, $10 and $5 notes will all be unveiled in 2020 in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

For a more detailed explanation of the symbols on the dollar bill, see the Work It Out supplement.