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There are big changes coming for the $20 bill

 

This is a historical moment for the United States—a woman is finally going to be one of the faces on our paper money.

For the first time since it's creation, the $20 bill will no longer feature Andrew Jackson. Instead, it'll feature Harriet Tubman, the civil rights leader, abolitionist and American historical hero.

 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the switch was announced yesterday by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. The $10 and $5 bills will also be undergoing redesigns, with the back of the five featuring a vignette of civil rights activisits and the back of the ten featuring a vignette of women's suffrage historical figures. The new $5 and $10 looks are expected to debut by 2020 for the 100 year anniversary of the women's suffrage movement.

Though a woman has been featured on paper money before—Martha Washington, our nation's first First Lady, was featured on the $1 silver certificate—in the past 100 years, all the faces have been men. Harriet Tubman isn't only the first woman to be recognized since then, she's also the first African-American.

Though some are upset that Harriet Tubman's $20 may not go into circulation until 2030—and that she wasn't put on the $10, which is the next bill set to be redesigned—others are glad to keep Alexander Hamilton while ousting Jackson. With the musical Hamilton making history of its own, some weren't ready to see that particular founding father (and the founder of the nations' financial infrastructure) go.

What do you think of the changes to our paper money designs? Who would you love to see on a bill some day?

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by Montez Jennings | 4/20/2016
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