For Tubman

By Tim Cho

On April 20, 2016, the United States Treasury Department announced that Harriet Tubman will soon replace Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill. Many people were ecstatic, while many denounced the change and voiced their support for Jackson.

Jackson, the war general turn president, ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling in Cherokee v Georgia and instigated the infamous Trail of Tears, the forced exile of Native Americans to western states, including Oklahoma and Kansas. He did, however, emphasize the power of the common man; he received the most popular votes compared to his predecessors. He encouraged the participation in politics by common citizens, albeit also using his presidential powers to employ his personal friends into positions in the government, also known as patronage.

However, Tubman represents what America values and tries to uphold. Liberty and the determination to uphold freedom has been the American motif of history, and while the Founding Fathers spearheaded the war for their liberty, Tubman did the same for her time.

While the Revolutionary War brought independence to the wealthy, white men of the new America, Tubman fought to bring the same freedom to slaves. She fought for the same liberty—freedom from the establishment that has chained people down for long.

While she may not be a war general or Founding Father, she is most definitely still deserving to be on the 20 dollar bill. She upheld the same values the other people on dollar bills cherished, while Jackson implemented war-mongering tactics, ignoring the Supreme Court and therein ignoring the separation of powers in the Constitution.
While Jackson’s presidency emphasized the importance of the common man, Tubman embodied the values of America. No other person matched her efforts, risking her own life every time she ventured to the South to aid the slaves.

Aganist Tubman

By Gauri Mangala

When I first learned of the initiative to place a woman on the 10 dollar bill, replacing Alexander Hamilton, as it was meant to be at the time, I will admit that I was intrigued, giddy even. I believed that this proved America’s progressive nature in the 21st century. Finally, women were being celebrated in history alongside men. This would of course prove just how much we, as a nation, as a society, have grown. Right?

As I kept reading and learning, there was this nagging thought that just kept coming back to me. They were searching, scouring, for a woman to put on this bill. But years passed and still, no one. Why was it so hard to find a woman to place on the bill? Maybe because there really aren’t any women that can be put next to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. There were no revolutionary visionaries like Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. For too long women have been in the background and because of this, they just haven’t been able to rise to prominence like these men who held power in our great nation.

When word got around that Harriet Tubman would be placed on the 20 dollar bill, replacing Andrew Jackson, I was thoroughly confused. The main purpose that Tubman would serve on the bill was to finally have a woman, an African-American, on American currency. However, that nagging feeling was still there. When we are trying to fix this obvious prejudice both towards people of color and women, we try to force this integration where it may just not be possible. The fact of the matter is that Harriet Tubman cannot be compared to the likes of Washington and Franklin. These men led and shaped America into what it is today. I cannot disagree with the position, Tubman was influential to the abolitionist movement.

However, choosing someone to replace Jackson for the sake of their gender or the color of their skin is about a discriminatory as not having anyone of color or the female gender on any currency. Yes, Jackson was arguably a horrible person. He had no tolerance for anyone outside of the white race and did not hesitate to assert dominance over the black people and the Native Americans, evidential support can be found throughout his presidency.

Tubman should not and can not be spoken in the same breath as Washington and Lincoln because she did not lead the country as they did. Yes, she was a civil rights activist. Yes, she led the Underground Railroad. But she was not a founding father, she was not a president. She did not change policies. She did not shape America the way in which these men did. As much as I hate it, women have not been given the same opportunities to lead, until recently. We do not have founding mothers, female presidents. There is no woman who can be paralleled with Lincoln and Washington. But if one is found, let it be of her own merits, not of her gender, that she is placed on American currency, and I will gladly cash in.

Quick facts:

The first time a woman was on the dollar bill was when George Washington’s wife was put on the $1 silver certificate in 1886.

Harriet Tubman had Narcolepsy, or sleeping spells. She could fall asleep any time and any place. This was caused by a severe blow to the head by a two pound iron weight thrown at another enslaved African-American when she was 12.