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Let’s start by saying that it was about time the United States put a woman on its currency.
Since I am a history nerd that has actually passed the Advanced Placement U.S. history exam, I am happy it is the $20 bill that is getting a change and not the original $10 bill.
Why? Well, if you look at history, Andrew Jackson never really deserved to be on there.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin were all Founding Fathers of the United States.
Washington led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and doubled the size of the United States during his presidency. Hamilton fought during the Revolution and was an author of The Federalist Papers that supported the Constitution. Franklin was a journalist, author, scientist and diplomat. He discovered, through a kite, electricity in lightning.
Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and managed to bring the country together. Of course, he deserves to be in our currency.
Now, Andrew Jackson. I can only think of The Trail of Tears when I think of him.
What is The Trail of Tears? Well, Andrew Jackson decided to remove Native Americans from their land east of the Mississippi. This was known as the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee tribe refused and filed a lawsuit that was taken to the Supreme Court. The case is known as Worcester v. Georgia, and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee. They determined the government had no right over Native American land, and the Cherokee tribe could remain on their land.
Jackson refused.
“John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.”
Those are the words that are believed to have come from Andrew Jackson. Marshall was the chief justice of the United States, but Jackson removed the Cherokee.
They were forced to give up their land and move to Oklahoma. In the journey, thousands of them died, and this event became known as the Trail of Tears.
The Jacksonian Era was not exactly the best in our history in terms of humanity.
Harriet Tubman, the African American female abolitionist who helped slaves from the South escape to the North will now be on our $20 bill. Definitely a right move in the right direction to show that the country has moved from its early mistakes but not entirely.
The only picture I have in my head is a conversation in the U.S. Treasury that went like this: “Hey, how can we silence feminists and Black Lives Matter?” Then someone said, “Let’s put a black woman like Harriet Tubman, and they will be happy.” The entire Treasury then cheered.
That is why I suggest we completely replace Jackson with not only Tubman but a Native American too. I suggest we replace Jackson with John Ross, who was the Cherokee tribe leader during The Trail of Tears.
However, that is not going to happen anytime soon because U.S. leaders are always too afraid to upset the crowd that believes African Americans should be working for free on their tobacco plantation in Georgia, and Native Americans should be removed from their land to plant more tobacco.
