Washington’s latest symbolic battle is looming. America’s money celebrates its early political leaders, all white males. There’s now a campaign to add a woman. A recent poll named antislavery activist Harriet Tubman the favorite, ahead of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time that a woman appeared on America’s money. Suffragette Susan B. Anthony and Native American Sacagawea graced ill-fated dollar coins which were little used and quickly forgotten.
President Barack Obama indicated his interest in showcasing more women. Republican legislators should take up the challenge and introduce a resolution urging the Treasury to add Tubman. There’s nothing sacred about the present currency line-up. After all, America was created by many more people than presidents and other politicians. Indeed, replacing Andrew Jackson makes a certain sense since he resolutely opposed a federal central bank.
Moreover, Tubman would be a great choice to replace him. She was born between 1820 and 1822 in Maryland to slave parents. Tubman was hired out and often beaten. After her owner’s death in 1849, which led his widow to begin selling their slaves, she escaped through the Underground Railroad to Philadelphia.
However, a year later she returned to Maryland to rescue her niece and the latter’s two children, beginning a career of leading slaves to freedom. She was daring and creative; her plans were sophisticated. Although she trusted God she also saw value in arming herself. She directed her last rescue in December 1860.
Read more at http://www.cato.org/blog/put-harriet-tubman-20-bill
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