Updated | 7:04 p.m. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has decided that a redesigned $20 bill will feature a portrait of Harriet Tubman, a Treasury official confirmed to The Intercept on Wednesday.
When he explained the decision in a post on Medium later in the day, Lew revealed that the change was part of a sweeping redesign of several bills, which will also see “five heroes of the women’s suffrage movement” honored on the $10, and “historic events at the Lincoln Memorial” depicted on a new $5.
The front of the new $20 will bear the portrait of Harriet Tubman, whose life was dedicated to fighting for liberty. pic.twitter.com/8lAEkoD78p
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) April 20, 2016
The new $10 will honor five heroes of the women’s suffrage movement and continue to feature Alexander Hamilton. pic.twitter.com/dHd50pLjMm
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) April 20, 2016
The new $5 will honor historic events at the Lincoln Memorial & continue to feature President Lincoln. pic.twitter.com/8jxgxxE7EW
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) April 20, 2016
The secretary had originally announced last year that the first United States note to feature a portrait of a woman would be a new $10 bill, but apparently reconsidered following a dual backlash from women who considered the larger bill more appropriate and fans of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant whose life is celebrated in the popular rap musical, “Hamilton.”
The decision to honor Tubman, a former slave who helped thousands of others to escape bondage in 19th century America, triggered an outpouring of satisfaction on social networks, in large part because of the symbolic shift from the president she will displace: Andrew Jackson.
A woman deserves to be on the $20, not the $10 ! #ditchjackson #thenew10 #thenew20 pic.twitter.com/TJYtnttSwd
— National Women's History Alliance (@officialNWHA) March 1, 2016
Jackson was the slaveholding president who signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which led to the death of thousands of Cherokees along the Trail of Tears as they were forcibly removed by the U.S. government from their homelands in Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia.
https://twitter.com/iSmashFizzle/status/722818220164521984
https://twitter.com/ppadien/status/722822059869376513
nothing is going to top this today pic.twitter.com/sMSVt8LzDK
— Veli (@Sergeveli13) April 20, 2016
New Harriet Tubman bill: $20.
Her replacing racist, genocidal slaveholder Andrew Jackson: Priceless. pic.twitter.com/jyGorRLuli— Carwil Bjork-James (@CarwilBJ) April 20, 2016
https://twitter.com/BmoreDoc/status/722857384151019521
Araminta (or "Minty") #HarrietTubman wasn't an "anti-slavery activist." She was technically (self) stolen fugitive, straight revolutionary.
— Greg Carr (@AfricanaCarr) April 20, 2016
.@tnyCloseRead on what $20 would have meant to Harriet Tubman—and what it means for us: https://t.co/R2ZlocJ8TS pic.twitter.com/SBQHZb7XJz
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) April 20, 2016
Rumors that Hamilton would not be removed from the $10 were fueled last month by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and star of the Broadway musical about the first Treasury secretary. Miranda said that he had pressed Lew to keep Hamilton on the note.
I talked to @USTreasury about this on Monday. Sec. Lew told me "you're going to be very happy." #wegetthejobdone https://t.co/ZkLFuSmz8M
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) March 16, 2016
Reaction to the decision, which was first reported by Politico, was not universally positive, prompting some notes of dissent and more than a few racist jokes.
No, I won't feel comfortable using a $20 bill with the face of a woman who was once considered currency herself. You may disagree.
— Nah, for real, Im FJ (@FeministaJones) April 20, 2016
As the reaction spread across social networks, coming to dominate Twitter’s global trends, there was an almost instant backlash to the backlash.
People pledging they’ll never use a Harriet Tubman $20: Have fun at the ATM.
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) April 20, 2016
https://twitter.com/PoliticsPeach/status/722823147041329152
The decision was welcomed by both Democratic candidates for the presidency, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
I cannot think of an American hero more deserving of this honor than Harriet Tubman. https://t.co/GL64NPrOL1
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 20, 2016
A woman, a leader, and a freedom fighter. I can't think of a better choice for the $20 bill than Harriet Tubman: https://t.co/YcsZC4ZrKg -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 20, 2016
The Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, who joked last year that perhaps his daughter Ivanka should get the honor, before agreeing that Rosa Parks would be a good choice, did not immediately respond to the news.
Among the few dissenters, Ben Carson, the former presidential candidate, called Jackson, “a tremendous secretary — I mean, a tremendous president,” and suggested that it would be more appropriate to honor Tubman on the little-used $2 bill.
.@RealBenCarson: "I think Andrew Jackson was a tremendous president." @TeamCavuto pic.twitter.com/0boc622IPb
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) April 20, 2016
Still, some conservatives took comfort where they could, even if it meant distorting Tubman’s politics in bizarre ways.
It's nice to see Harriet, a pro gun REPUBLICAN abolitionist replacing Andrew Jackson, a DEMOCRAT slave owner. @goldietaylor
— ? ? Jax Teller ? (@jagxteller) April 20, 2016
Yoni Appelbaum, the Washington bureau chief of the Atlantic, pointed out that the sum of $20 figured prominently in Tubman’s life, according to an episode recounted by her first biographer, Sarah Hopkins Bradford, in which she pleaded with an abolitionist to give her money to buy the freedom of her parents.
2. Tubman had an intimation that her parents, still held as slaves in Maryland, were in trouble. She needed funds to effect their rescue.
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) April 20, 2016
4. The Lord, she said, had told her to come and demand twenty dollars. Incredulous, Johnson ignored her. pic.twitter.com/7vU7OGsxAO
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) April 20, 2016
6. “I want twenty dollars,” Tubman said. Now, she’ll be on all of our $20 bills.
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) April 20, 2016
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
Contact the author:
Latest Stories
Targeting Iran
Israel’s “Black Wednesday” Massacre Leaves Lebanese Families Giving DNA to ID Loved Ones’ Remains
In Lebanon, an unprecedented campaign of DNA tests is being used to identify mangled bodies left trapped under rubble by Israel’s blitz.
The Intercept Briefing
When Anti-War Candidates Become War-Monger Presidents
Matt Duss, former foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, on how Democrats can win on an anti-war platform and bring about real change.
Voices
Israel Will Keep Occupying Lebanon Despite Ceasefire
Reduced violence is welcome, but the Gaza “ceasefire” has meant continued genocide. We can't let them get away with it in Lebanon.