In an open letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, it was announced that Harriet Tubman would be the new face of the twenty dollar bill.  After years of advocacy, most notably from Women on 20s organization, and dozens of potential nominees, Harriet Tubman was chosen to replace Andrew Jackson.

Originally, a woman was going to replace founding father, Alexander Hamilton, on the ten dollar bill, but after the popularity of the musical Hamilton, the Treasury department found it impossible to go through with it without uproar from Hamilton fans. 

Bob Jones student Kiara Gunn said, “Not only was he (Andrew Jackson) involved in a mass genocide of many Native Americans, but he was also pro-slavery. Having his face on money is a way of honoring him and he did not do anything honorable.”

Even though he was the father of the modern Democratic party and the only president to pay off the national debt in its entirety, there are others who deserve the honor more… like Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman was notable for aiding hundreds of slaves in the Underground railroad, her work as a spy in the Civil War, and her work as a suffragette. While Tubman will be the face of the twenty dollar bill, Jackson will still appear on the back of the dollar.

Republican candidate Donald Trump has been outspoken about his opposition of putting a woman on the 20 dollar bill, but Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are both actively for it.  

The reactions to the Treasury’s decision have been mixed.

Out of 21 Bob Jones students, 81% of students believe Harriet Tubman should be on the $20 bill.

“She (Harriet Tubman) repeatedly put herself in the line of fire to free people who were treated as currency themselves,” said Feminsta Jones wrote in The Washington Post. “She risked her life to ensure that enslaved black people would know they were worth more than the blood money that exchanged hands to buy and sell them.”

Michael Hoyle, Bob Jones teacher of AP Psychology and Macroeconomics, said, “I’m not stuck in tradition that I can’t accept any bit of change. Change is inevitable.”

Not all people agree with this.  Brandon Shaw, a Bob Jones junior, said, “It’s been the same forever.  Why change it now?”

Andrew Jackson, America’s 7th president, was added to the $20 bill in 1928.

Along with adding Tubman to the twenty dollar bill, American heroes like Martin Luther King Jr., Marian Anderson, and Eleanor Roosevelt will be added to the $5 bill and suffragettes Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul and Lucretia Mott will be added to the $1o bill.

The new twenty dollar bill will be unveiled in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment.