UNITED STATES
Use our resources to learn more about Harriet Tubman.
Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit, including today’s poll.

Photograph by H. B. Lindsley, courtesy Library of Congress
Discussion Ideas
- Why do people want to change the portrait on the $20?
- A woman’s portrait does not appear on any paper currency of the United States, and a grass-roots organization, Women on 20s, thinks that should change. Leaders from President Barack Obama to talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres agree.
- 2020 is the centennial of the 19th amendment, which guaranteed women’s right to vote. It would be a symbolic recognition of a major civil rights milestone.
- What’s wrong with Old Hickory?
- Andrew Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, led a controversial life. He owned hundreds of slaves, killed a man in a duel, and was largely responsible for the “Trail of Tears,” the brutal, forced removal of Native Americans from the Southeast.
- Jackson favored “specie” (gold and silver coins) over paper currency notes, so some critics say his inclusion on a bill is ironic.
- Why do supporters think Harriet Tubman deserves to have her portrait on the $20 bill?
- Tubman was an American hero, nicknamed “Moses” by the dozens of slaves she ushered to freedom through the Underground Railroad in the 19th century.
- Who else did “Women on 20s” consider in their online poll?
- The finalists were Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Wilma Mankiller.
- Harriet Tubman wasn’t a president—don’t you have to be a president to be on a bill?
- What are the rules about portraits on paper currency?
- By law, only deceased people may appear on currency.
- Harriet Tubman qualifies: She died 102 years ago.
- Informally, people featured on paper currency should be “well-known to the American public.” Harriet Tubman qualifies:
- Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist who literally risked her life for the freedom of others as arguably the most well-known conductor on the Underground Railroad.
- She was a spy for the Union during the Civil War.
- She was the first woman in American history to lead a military expedition.
- A U.S. national park unit, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument, is named in her honor.
- A Canadian national park unit, the Salem Chapel BME Church Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Site in St. Catherines, Ontario, is named in her honor.
- Harriet Tubman’s home, museum, and gravesite are popular historic sites.
- A liberty ship, the U.S.S. Harriet Tubman, launched in 1944.
- She appeared on a postage stamp in 1978.
- By law, only deceased people may appear on currency.
- Does the president or Congress need to approve a change to the appearance of currency?
- Nope. According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, “The Secretary of the Treasury is responsible for the selection of the designs, including the portraits, which appear on paper currency.”
- Why are some people criticizing the idea of Harriet Tubman appearing on the $20 bill?
- Some critics think the U.S. should continue to recognize President Jackson, citing:
- his legacy as a military leader in the War of 1812
- the fact that slavery was legal at the time of his presidency, and common among owners of large plantations in the South
- the idea that the Indian Removal Act is misrepresented as racist, and was in fact “a long-term solution to a crisis that was threatening the stability and strength of the nascent American union as well as the existence of the Cherokee as a people.”
- Some critics think a $20 bill with Harriet Tubman’s portrait would be “hush money” that won’t address the ongoing issues of race in the U.S. “I don’t want Harriet Tubman’s face on a $20 bill,” says one critic. “I want our people to be free from the chains of institutionalized racism and economic slavery. That’s how we honor her.”
- Some critics think the U.S. should continue to recognize President Jackson, citing:
TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT
Christian Science Monitor: Will Harriet Tubman grace $20 bills? Why some groups don’t want that.
Nat Geo: Who was Harriet Tubman?
U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing: FAQ