UPDATE 5:05 p.m.: There is, sadly, a slight catch to all of this. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew clarified during his official announcement on Wednesday that Andrew Jackson will still appear on the back of the bill, the Washington Postreports. Harriet Tubman, as was previously confirmed, will front the new bill.
See original story below.
Harriet Tubman will soon become the first woman on American paper currency in a century. The brave abolitionist is set to replace slave-owning former president Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill, according to the Associated Press. Treasury Secretary Jacob "Jack" Lew's decision, according to treasury officials, also means that Alexander Hamilton will most likely remain on the $10 bill.
Lew's move comes just a year after it was announced that a woman would be the new face of a redesigned $10 bill, with some arguing that Jackson—not Hamilton—should be replaced instead. Though Hamilton will now remain on the bill's face, NBC Newsreports that the back of the bill will feature noted suffragists as a tribute to their battle for equal voting rights.
The reaction to this news, thus far, has been stellar:
Though some have complained of the possible time constraints associated with a hard reboot of the $20 bill, sources tellPolitico that the fresh designs should be ready to go no later than 2020. In fact, the Treasury is expected to request an expedited process from the Federal Reserve to ensure circulation begins quickly and smoothly. Thankfully, there is perhaps no more fitting a choice for the new $20 bill than Harriet Tubman. Tubman, like so many others who fought against this nation's insistence on inequality, has endured eons of not being awarded her due respect. It's about damn time.
