Who is Harriet Tubman, whose picture Biden decided to put on the $ 20 bill
Tubman, the once-enslaved African American woman who abolished the Civil War-era death penalty and granted dozens of enslaved people their freedom in the 19th century, will replace President Andrew Jackson in the $ 20 coin.
US President Joe Biden has revived plans to put a photo of Harriet Tubman on a $ 20 bill. White House Press Secretary Jane Psaki told reporters on Monday that the Treasury was "taking steps" to restart efforts to place Tubman in the $ 20 category, an idea first floated during the Obama administration.
Tubman would replace the image of Andrew Jackson - the country's controversial seventh president who has been on the $ 20 bill since 1928 .. In 1804, Jackson owned 9 enslaved African Americans. After 25 years, that number swelled to nearly 150 people who live and work for him.
Tubman, the once enslaved African American woman who abolished the death penalty in the Civil War and gave dozens of enslaved people their freedom by being smuggled into the subway in the 19th century, will replace President Andrew Jackson for the $ 20 coin.
History suggests that the $ 20 bill had a special place with Tubman. In addition to her work in liberating slaves and fighting slavery, she also assisted the Union Army during the Civil War. She was on the scouting team, a spy and a nurse. By 1899, lawmakers had agreed to set her monthly military pension at $ 20.
Tubman, who was born in Maryland, escaped from the farm where she was enslaved and went to Pennsylvania in 1849. Over the next decade, she made more than a dozen trips to Maryland to free enslaved people. During the Civil War, she served as a spy, nurse, and cook in the US Army.
While campaigning in 2016, President Donald Trump described the decision to redesign the $ 20 bill with a picture of Tubman as "pure political correctness." He suggested instead that Tubman be put on the $ 2 bill, which was not being printed at the time.
Trump's Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin evaded when asked in an interview about developments in the $ 20 bill, saying, "We haven't made any decisions about changing the bill." He said that the new category will not be revealed until 2028 due to "technical problems." But the New York Times reported that the basic design was completed in late 2016.
Tubman has been an inspiration for leaders and rights activists. She has been honored in books, cinema, operas, and statues in Manhattan and on the University of Salisbury campus in Maryland. She was the first African-American woman to appear on an American postage stamp and is widely considered one of the most influential African Americans in history.
