An effort to honor abolitionist Harriet Tubman just got a new push. President Joe Biden’s administration is speeding up a plan to put Tubman on the $20 bill.
Born into slavery in Maryland around 1820, Tubman escaped to freedom in 1849. She made her dangerous journey on the Underground Railroad, a secret network of routes and safe houses that thousands of enslaved people in the South used to reach freedom in Northern states and Canada.
Tubman then risked her life to return to the South time and again, leading dozens of family members and friends to freedom. During the Civil War (1861-65), Tubman helped the Union Army, including as a spy.
Her portrait will replace that of President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), who enslaved Black people and has been criticized for his harsh treatment of Native American people. It’s to be decided whether his image will remain on the bill. Tubman will be the first Black person—and first woman in more than 100 years—to appear on U.S. paper currency.