Slave s portrait to be added to 20-dollar bill
The idea of changing the 20 dollar banknote, first raised under Obama s presidency, was given new impetus by Joe Biden. The redesigned banknote will feature a black woman born into slavery, replacing the image of former President Andrew Jackson.
The project was initiated under President Obama, with the Trump administration allowing the initiative to lapse. President Biden s Treasury Department is studying ways to speed up the process to replace Andrew Jackson s image on the 20-dollar note.
Una banconota da 20 per l ex schiava Mai nessun afroamericano prima di #Harriet https://t.co/EfgS8N54R3 via @quotidianonet
— mara tamborra (@maratam5) April 1, 2021
According to New York Times, this is an important step, not only because the character is a woman, but also because she was the reference figure for equality between blacks and whites in the 19th century. A model that was also inspired by Mathin Luther King.
„The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. „It s important that our money reflect the history and diversity of our country.” A Treasury spokeswoman said that she had no information to share on when a new design of the $20 bill might be released.
Born enslaved in Maryland in 1822, Harriet Tubman had to endure severe beatings and whippings as a child. After an injury, she began experiencing visions, which she ascribed to premonitions from God. These experiences, combined with her Methodist upbringing, led her to become devoutly religious. Aged 27 in 1849, she escaped to Philadelphia where she began organising missions to rescue black slaves from southern states. She became the member of a network committed to helping slaves escape to the north.
The situation of black people further deteriorated after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850. The act required that all escaped slaves, upon capture, be returned to their owners. Around this time, Harriet Tubman met abolitionist leader John Brown. She spent the rest of her life fighting for women s rights and universal suffrage, even though her serious health problems only got worse over the years. She died at the age of 92.
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