Harriet Tubman Will Be On The $20 Bill

Update: Former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson isn't a fan of the Treasury's plan to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 note with abolitionist Harriet Tubman. During a Fox Business Network interview on Wednesday, Carson said that Jackson was "a tremendous president" and "in honor of that, we kick him off of the money." He added, "I love Harriet Tubman, I love what she did, but we can find another way to honor her.” His suggestion? Add Tubman to the $2 bill, which is famously low in public circulation and makes up less than 1% of all U.S. currency.

The $20 bill is about to get a major makeover. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will be on the face of the $20, replacing Andrew Jackson (who will now take the back of the bill). Meanwhile, suddenly zeitgeisty Alexander Hamilton — who was originally meant to be replaced — will remain on the face of the $10 bill. (Thanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton?!) The set of changes will also include putting leaders of the women's suffrage movement on the back of the $10 bill. The Treasury also plans to add civil rights leaders and scenes from moments in American history to the $5 bill. According to The New York Times, the new designs will be made public in 2020, just in time for the centennial of women’s suffrage and the 19th amendment to the Constitution. But here's the thing: None of the bills, including the new $5 note, will reach circulation until the next decade.

Reaction to Tubman replacing slave owner Jackson on the front of the $20 bill has been overwhelmingly positive. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) tweeted, "If this is true, great news! Tubman on $20 is the right call. The redesign needs to happen as soon as possible. Women have waited long enough." Other prominent women weren't so happy about Alexander Hamilton remaining on the front of the $10 bill. “It’s yet another ‘wait your turn’ moment for American women,” the political commentator Cokie Roberts wrote on Wednesday in The New York Times.