We may be waitinguntil 2030forHarriet TubmantoreplaceAndrew Jackson on the U.S. $ 20 invoice , as U.S. Treasury officials have been forebode . Butthe age - long pushto display the Maryland - born emancipationist and ikon on currency has also highlight Jackson ’s controversial human activity as America ’s seventh President of the United States .
Andrew Jackson , retrieve both as a world of the people and an enslaver who instigated the Trail of Tears , has long held the in demand spot on the $ 20 , one of the most unremarkably circulated bills — but he has n’t always hold that place of honor . In fact , Jackson ’s typeface has graced twenties only since the 1920s . Prior to that , Old Hickoryhad his humble commencement onthe $ 10 bill .
The first - ever run of Federal Reserve note did n’t come up out until 1914 , when Jackson ’s portrait boast conspicuously on the $ 10 , withGrover Clevelandholding pride of berth on the $ 20 . In 1928 , Union money went through a design do - over ; Cleveland ascend to the space vacated byAlexander Hamiltonon the $ 1000 invoice — which astute readers will realize is no longer in circulation — while Jackson resolve into his now - familiar place on the $ 20 , with Hamilton relegate to the $ 10 . Why the dramatic reshuffle ofpresidents ? Not even the Treasury Department itself seems to call back , take that itsabsence of documentationon the subject means “ It ’s a mystery to us as well . ”
The current cause to diversify the $ 20 also brings up the fact that U.S. newspaper publisher currentness has only ever featured portraits of white men who happen to be politician . The trend makes our bank bill an outlier among those of other industrialized nations . The UK , for example , hasissued banknotesfeaturing source , scientist , and social reformer , includingFlorence Nightingale , Jane Austen , Michael Faraday , andCharles Darwin . In 2020 , the governmentapproveda banknote aim feature the Jamaican - British Crimean War nursemaid Mary Seacole and the French Resistance fighter Noor Inayat Khan . France , Italy , Australia , Denmark , Canada , Japan , Mexico , Sweden , and many other countries have featured non - male , non - politician portraits .
The great irony of Jackson ’s visage conspicuously featuring on a bank note is , of course , that he disdained newspaper money , preferring the palpable economic value of gold and silver . It ’s disputable whether Jackson would consider his commemoration on the $ 20 bill any sort of honor at all .
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A interpretation of this story was print in 2015 ; it has been updated for 2024 .
