It’s all about the Harriets.
Harriet Tubman, the escaped slave who became a mainstay of the Underground Railroad and a national inspiration, was announced Wednesday as the new face of the $20 bill.
Tubman will bump incumbent Andrew Jackson off the currency in a long-rumored and eagerly anticipated swap. Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were among those excited by the changing of the guard — and the race and gender — on the double-sawbuck.
“A woman, a leader, and a freedom fighter,” Clinton said via Twitter. “I can't think of a better choice for the $20 bill than Harriet Tubman.”
KING: WITH HARRIET TUBMAN ON THE $20, TIME TO PAY WOMEN EQUALLY
The Vermont senator echoed the sentiment: “I cannot think of an American hero more deserving of this honor than Harriet Tubman.”
Nineteenth-century abolitionist Tubman becomes the first woman to appear on U.S. paper currency in a century, following President Washington’s wife Martha — who was featured on a $1 silver certificate.
Politico was first to report the historic bouncing of the nation’s seventh president.
CLINTON: KEEP HAMILTON ON $10, DUMP JACKSON ON THE $20
The change in bills was generating huge cheers even before the official word was released.
“I'm gonna pay everything I ever owe in $20s from now on!” tweeted actress/singer Audra McDonald. “Mortgage, student loans, dinner, taxes...ALL OF IT!!”
While Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and abused by her masters growing up in Dorchester County, Maryland, she married a free black man by the name of John Tubman at the age of 25 from 1844 to 1851. Free people of color marrying enslaved people weren’t uncommon at the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where half the black population was free at this time. Little is known about their marriage, other than if they had any children, they would have been considered slaves since her mother's status dictated that of any offspring.
In 1850, she was warned that her niece Kessiah and her two children would be sold in Cambridge. In a bid to save them from slavery, Tubman went to Baltimore to help them escape. Kessiah's husband, a free black man named John Bowley made the winning bid for his wife, while their children escaped to a nearby safe house during payment arrangements. When night fell, Kessiah and her husband sailed on a log canoe to Baltimore where Tubman was waiting to take them back to Philadelphia.Editorial Use OnlyVIEW GALLERY
The life of Civil Rights activist Harriet Tubman
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and the city’s First Lady Chirlane McCray were also quick to hail the decision to honor an African-American woman and American hero.
JACKSON HISTORIANS MOURN AS INTERNET CELEBRATES HIS HAIR
“Justice is served. #GoodbyeJackson #HelloHarriet,” McCray said via Twitter.
The $5 bill will also change, with its back to now feature Martin Luther King, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and opera legend Marian Anderson.
And the government will roll out a revamped $10 bill honoring the women behind the American suffrage movement: Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul.
Tubman, the escaped slave who became a mainstay of the Underground Railroad, will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.
Tubman, the escaped slave who became a mainstay of the Underground Railroad, will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.
Founding father and Broadway muse Alexander Hamilton is going nowhere — he will remain on the front of the $10. Officials had pondered replacing Hamilton with a woman, but decided not to make the change.
Among those lobbying to keep the former Treasury secretary in place: Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and co-star of the Broadway smash musical “Hamilton.” The two met earlier this month.
The new designs will be made public in 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, although it might take another decade before the bills go into circulation.
Women On 20s, the group that started the ball rolling for a $20 makeover, encouraged the Treasury Department to start printing the new bill as soon as possible.
“It’s time to get the party started honoring women,” said Executive Director Susan Ades Stone.
Fuente: www.nydailynews.com
