Paper money offers a way of reminding people about their country’s history and values. But how often do we think about who and what is portrayed on it?
The paper money in the United States is basically a portrait gallery of important men from the country’s first 100 years. Three of them were army generals who later became president: George Washington ($1) led the US in the American Revolution; Andrew Jackson ($20) led it in the War of 1812; and Ulysses S. Grant ($50) led the Union troops in the Civil War.
Two of the portraits are of political thinkers: Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the Declaration of Independence, is on the seldom-used $2 bill, while diplomat Benjamin Franklin adorns the $100 bill. They’re joined by Abraham Lincoln, president during the Civil War, on the $5 bill and Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary, on the $10 bill.
Though most of these gentlemen are familiar to any schoolchild, Hamilton and Jackson seem almost arbitrary inclusions, while James Madison, the main author of the Constitution, is a glaring omission. (He was on the $5,000 bill, which was discontinued in 1969.)
This is because, unless new denominations are introduced or the size of the bills is changed, the selection is made by one person: the secretary of the treasury, whose signature appears on the banknotes. The Treasury Department says it has no record of why the current lineup was chosen in 1928.
Time for an update?
Might it not be time to update the selection? In 2004, Republican politicians attempted to persuade or even require the treasury secretary to have former president Ronald Reagan, who had just died, replace Hamilton on the $10 bill. Now there’s a popular campaign to replace Jackson on the 20.
Activists want to see a woman on the $20 bill
The idea is that the paper portrait gallery ought to include at least one woman. The group behind the campaign Women on 20s has been running an online survey to identify a candidate to suggest to the current treasury secretary, Jack Lew, and his boss, Barack Obama. From 100 initial suggestions, the campaigners and a first round of voting have narrowed the field to these four:
- Harriet Tubman (c. 1822–1913), a former slave who became a main organizer of the Underground Railroad, a system of hiding slaves and helping them to escape.
- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), a first lady during the 1930s and ’40s who was a leader, statesman, and author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Rosa Parks (1913–2005), symbol of the civil-rights movement in the 1960s because she refused to sit in the back of the bus as white people insisted.
- Wilma Mankiller (1945–2010), chief of the Cherokee Nation, who during her 10 years in office greatly improved the lives and diplomatic standing of the Cherokee.
Tubman and Roosevelt are currently leading the pack, with Parks in the middle. Mankiller was not part of the first voting round, but was added because of the often-expressed desire for a Native American candidate. Ironically, though, one of Mankiller’s main accomplishments was to get negotiations with the US government to be on a nation-to-nation footing, so choosing her would be like putting a foreign leader on the currency.
Ultimately, the treasury secretary will decide. He won’t be restricted to the candidate suggested, nor will he necessarily feel he has to even acknowledge the petition — it’s solely the idea of the campaigners. But imagine if he or one of his successors does decide to include a female visage. With no female presidents or generals to choose from, any of the suggested women would represent human rights. That would — in more than one sense of the word — put a whole new face on things.
Update, May 10: Harriet Tubman received the most votes in the online poll, followed by Eleanor Roosevelt. With reference to the Women on 20s campaign, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Illinois Representative Luis Gutiérrez, both Democrats, introduced legislation in their respective houses of Congress in April, recommending a woman’s likeness on the $20 bill.
