BBC Online :
Anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman will be the first woman to appear on a US banknote for more than a century.
Tubman, who was born a slave around 1820 and helped hundreds of others escape, will feature on the new $20 bill, the US Treasury announced. She will replace former President Andrew Jackson, a slave owner.
The Treasury has dropped plans to remove the image of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founders of the US financial system, from the $10 bill. It had faced a backlash over the plan.
While Ms Tubman will feature on the front of the $20 bill, President Jackson’s image will move to the back.
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that Harriet Tubman was “not just a historical figure but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy.”
“Her incredible story of courage and commitment to equality embodies the ideals of democracy that our nation celebrates,” he added. Leaders from the women’s rights movement – Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul – will be pictured on the back of the $10 bill.
The back of the $5 bill – which depicts Abraham Lincoln on the front – will show prominent leaders from US history including singer Marian Anderson, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
The women last depicted on US bills were former first lady Martha Washington, on the $1 silver certificate from 1891 to 1896, and Native American Pocahontas, in a group photo on the $20 bill from 1865 to 1869.
Anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman will be the first woman to appear on a US banknote for more than a century.
Tubman, who was born a slave around 1820 and helped hundreds of others escape, will feature on the new $20 bill, the US Treasury announced. She will replace former President Andrew Jackson, a slave owner.
The Treasury has dropped plans to remove the image of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founders of the US financial system, from the $10 bill. It had faced a backlash over the plan.
While Ms Tubman will feature on the front of the $20 bill, President Jackson’s image will move to the back.
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that Harriet Tubman was “not just a historical figure but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy.”
“Her incredible story of courage and commitment to equality embodies the ideals of democracy that our nation celebrates,” he added. Leaders from the women’s rights movement – Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul – will be pictured on the back of the $10 bill.
The back of the $5 bill – which depicts Abraham Lincoln on the front – will show prominent leaders from US history including singer Marian Anderson, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
The women last depicted on US bills were former first lady Martha Washington, on the $1 silver certificate from 1891 to 1896, and Native American Pocahontas, in a group photo on the $20 bill from 1865 to 1869.
