The possibilities are endless. Harriet Tubmans life was about fighting against the system that treated Black lives and Black bodies as property, currency and capital. So were exploring ways to speed up that effort. Facebook privacy settlement: Who is eligible for a payment? He persuaded Congress to modify the tariff and simultaneously grant him authority to militarily enforce it in South Carolina. The group's suggested replacements include Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks. It is not so today, Feller noted and for good reason. ButFeller, the "Papers of Andrew Jackson" editor, said it's not surprising that the Treasury Department of 1928 would see Jackson as someone worthy of the honor. Not long ago there was serious talk of replacing him with Ronald Reagan. He shouldnt be on our currency., Those cries are increasing in number with the announcement that the next $10 bill will feature a woman. So, does it really make sense to put his face all over our money today? It didn't, really, for much of American history. Mr. Mnuchin said that notes with new imagery could not be put into circulation until 2028 and that a future Treasury secretary would make the call whether to replace Jackson. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 1. Terms of Use Her image would replace Andrew Jackson, the notoriously racist President, known both for owning hundreds of slaves and for his brutal and genocidal policy of Indian removal. Historians have some ideas as to why putting Jackson on the $20 seemed like a good idea in 1928, when his face was selected to replace Grover Cleveland's. Who would we rather keep on a bill? One hears it often today, and it was Jackson who bequeathed it to us. We strive for accuracy and fairness. , Syed Hasan The Palmetto State accepted the compromise in 1833. The decision to have Ms. Tubman replace Andrew Jackson as the face of the $20 note was set in motion in 2016 by the Treasury secretary at the time, Jacob Lew. And if that is all we recognize him for, no wonder his face on the currency seems a mystery and an outrage. 2022 U.S. Midterms Dispatch 2: The War in Ukraines Role in the Midterms. What's interesting is that, no matter who has been proposed in his stead, Jackson not Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln has always been the prime target for removal. Other than being President of the United States, there are speculations that Andrew Jackson was featured on the 20-dollar bill because of his stand against paper money during his time. Putting Tubman on legal tender, when slaves in the U.S. were treated as fungible commodities is a supreme form of disrespect. Only one ancient account mentions the existence of Xerxes Canal, long thought to be a tall tale. By: History.com Editors HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and . Jackson isnow mostly remembered as an historical villaina slave owner whose major legislative accomplishment was the act that led to the Trail of Tears, in which thousands of Cherokee were forced from their land. TubmanwasbornAraminta "Minty" Ross in the early 1820s in Dorchester County, Maryland. The problem, perhaps, is that the currency has remained unaltered for so long that any change in it begins to look revolutionary. She died there in 1913 and was buried with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery. But he was put on the twenty-dollar bill for a reason, not just randomly. The little-known history of the Florida panther. America certainly owes a debt to Black people, but this is not the way to repay it. He eliminated wasteful spending and fired corrupt tax assessors for collecting personal bribes instead of taxes. Orphaned in youth, this son of poor. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. No really, we checked. Treasury watchdog to review delay of Harriet Tubman $20 bill design, painting of Jacksonto be displayed in theOval Office, anink stamp thatreplaced Andrew Jackson's face, The last time a portrait on a bill was changed, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Its true story is much more messy and complicated. Jackson will soonno longer appear on the front of the $20 bill,capping a decades-long decline inthe seventh presidents popularity. Jackson was elevated to the $20 bill in 1928, replacing Grover Cleveland. (Our Latina sisters often fare worse.). While some claim that Jacksons victory at New Orleans was unimportant because a preliminary treaty already had been signed in Europe, Jacksons infliction of more than 2,000 casualties at a cost of fewer than 100 convinced Europeans that future wars against the United States of America could be more dangerous than previously assumed. After all, its Andrew Jacksons best-known portrait in popular culture: an intense man with over-the-top collar, windswept hair and a look of fierce determination in his engraved eyes. Itwas one ofJackson's better sidesthat led to what appears to be the first time Jackson's portrait was placed on a postage stamp, in 1863, the Hermitage's Kittell noted. The $20 note includes an embedded security thread that glows green when illuminated by UV light. During the Confederacy, as each secessionist state printed its own money, images of enslaved people picking cotton and doing other forms of menial labor appeared on the currency in several states. News of the delay sparked the release of a debit card that bears her image and drew attention to anink stamp thatreplaced Andrew Jackson's face on a $20 bill with Tubman's likeness. When a majority of voters in the southern states decided the same thing, slavery would end in the South. He dominated his times so thoroughly that they came to bear his name: the Age of Jackson, or the Jacksonian Era. But any specifics would, of course, come from the Department of Treasury.. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital Erin Blakemore Before the Federal Reserve got authority to issue bills, bank notes were printed by the National Banking System, which was susceptible to bank runs and financial panics. The Worth of Andrew Jackson President Jackson left a complicated legacy worth remembering, even if he does get booted off the $20. And Harriet Tubmans image gracing the new $20 note would certainly reflect that. According to eyewitness Margaret Bayard Smith, the crowd that followed him from the Capitol to the White House was composed of countrymen, farmers, gentlemen women and children, black and white. The White House was opened to all, including black Americans. A new discovery raises a mystery. Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s magisterial "The Age of Jackson," published in 1945, contained a single fleeting reference to the subject in 523 pages of text. 5 Reasons We Should Kick Andrew Jackson Off the $20 Bill Impact By Julie Zeilinger 6.19.2015 In March, 62-year-old Barbara Ortiz Howard launched the nonprofit organization Women on 20s, which. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/jackson-and-the-20-bill-video. Perhaps we need the Harriet Tubman Reparations Act or the Harriet Tubman Abolition of Prisons Act. Magazines, Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower. These two acts were awful because he made the Native Americans travel . Mr. Trump professed to be a fan of Andrew Jackson, a fellow populist, and was a fierce opponent of altering historical images and statues. Jackson's place of honorbecame a big topic once again this week aftera nonprofit groupcalled Women on 20's suggested that it was time to retire the Jackson $20 and replace it with a bill featuring one of several prominent women from American history. Erin Blakemore is a Boulder, Colorado-based journalist. Andrew Jackson's presence on the 20 dollar bill is outdated and insensitive to the harm he caused to not only his own nation financially, but also to the thousands of Native Americans who perished under his command. Tubman escaped slavery using the Underground Railroad in 1849 and later became a"conductor" who helped free dozens ofother enslaved people. Keeping a man who committed such a crime on our currency is inexcusable. The Biden administration is moving forward with a plan to replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill with an image of Harriet Tubman. In fact, Jackson didnt really like banks, either: he famously called the delegation of bankers discussing the charter of the Second Bank of the United States a den of vipers and thieves and was suspicious of the soundness of paper money as opposed to gold and silver. Third, Jackson was Americas most fiscally responsible president the only one to completely repay the federal debt. We do it because we admire them, or because they represent something we value. All Rights Reserved. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/politics/tubman-20-dollar-bill.html. Why is the Biden administration punishing financially responsible homeowners? 2. Trump's critics saw Mnuchins move as part of what they said was Trumps affinity towardAndrew Jackson. (There were 150 slaves at the time of his death, and the stories of only a few are known, the Hermitage notes.) He proposed term limits for elected officials and replaced about 15 percent of the bureaucrats who had been appointed by earlier administrations. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Watch on. Jackson restored Americas confidence that our country was not merely a temporary experiment in democracy. Jackson was known to have forced American Indians into designated areas and reservations out of their native lands. A long-building campaign to get Andrew Jackson off our national currency has finally culminated with the Treasury Department's announcement that Harriet Tubman will soon replace him on the front of the $20 bill. , No Comment, July 26, 2022 I believe that representation matters, that it matters for a woman (with liberal values) to be president someday, that Black people and people of color should be in positions of leadership and decision-making in our government. As president, Andrew Jackson refused to acknowledge paper money as a real form of currency, and instead favored gold and silver. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. The initiative to replace Andrew Jackson came from a campaign called "Women. On one hand, he is remembered for his role in the expansion and modernization of the United States . Putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill Is Not a Sign of Progress. A 2015 report placed single Black womens median net wealth at $200; it placed Black mens median wealth at $300. He was our first American idol. We have a better historical understanding now of how those policies and structures continue to impact our society. Tubman is most well known for leading thousands of slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Since this history has violently reinserted itself, demanding our attention, and if we are wise, our reckoning with a racist past that is never quite past, then we should note, that Black peoples faces have, in fact, been on our national currency before. 1, Obama at 18; Kennedy judged most overrated, White House brings back Andrew Jacksons Big Block of Cheese Day with virtual open house. I know in a country that worships at the altar of capitalisman economic system made possible by the free Black labor procured through the Transatlantic slave tradea Black womans face on our currency seems like the highest honor we could bestow. STDs are at a shocking high. 2022 U.S. Midterms Dispatch 3: Have Recent Primaries Changed Predictions for Fall? HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. To stabilize the system, the government created the Federal Reserve System and redesigned national currency. We thought we knew turtles. In the case of Andrew Jackson, the current narrative leans towards the latter. Toward the end of the Obama administration, the Treasury Department recommended that President Andrew Jacksons portrait on the $20 bill be replaced with one of Harriet Tubman, a black leader in the Underground Railroad. Mr. Trump professed to be a fan of Andrew Jackson, a fellow populist, and . Create Your Free Account or Sign In to Read the Full Story. Learn more at erinblakemore.com. Advertising Notice How do you market an icon? But what a stunning failure of imagination. By replacing Andrew Jackson with a woman, it shows the progress the United States has made towards becoming a more civilized and equal nation. Her work has appeared in publications like The Washington Post, TIME, mental_floss, Popular Science and JSTOR Daily. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The default position in America is that Black bodies are only useful insofar as they turn a profit. Help us improve. Feller,who knows many of Jackson's most famous speeches by heart,said he hears the president's rhetoric today in, for instance, some of what Elizabeth Warren says. If she had been caught, she would've faced physical punishment and been sold back into slavery in the Deep South due to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. In the case of Andrew Jackson, the current narrative leans towards the latter. In 1928, most Americans wouldn't think about the Trail of Tears when they thought about Jackson. | READ MORE. Jackson's warning to the Carolina nullifiers of the dangers of political extremism makes riveting reading today. It depends. If that principle is worth upholding, Andrew Jackson is worth remembering. Nearly 90 years have. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.