Tubman Twenty

John Rawlins: Where about you from?
Trip: I'm from around Tennessee. I ran away when I was 12 years old and I ain't never looked back.
Jupiter Sharts: What you doin' since then?
Trip: I run for President. Didn't win though.
--Glory

Recent polls suggest antislavery activist Harriet Tubman as a front runner for the addition of women pictures on American currency. That would be a great choice, and not because she happened to be a woman.

Not only did she tirelessly promote liberty and fight unjust laws, but Tubman would represent, to my knowledge, the first American citizen other than a politician to appear on a Federal Reserve Note. This is significant because in our current monetary system paper currency gets more circulation (and visibility) than coins.

A ridiculous argument against Tubman is that she did not respect American capitalism so putting her picture on US currency would be insulting.

The fact is that capitalism is grounded in economic liberty, which is repressed under systems of slavery. Tubman's actions increased economic liberty for many. It is likely that Tubman saw freeing slaves as restoring individuals' unalienable right to pursue their interests in a free economy.

It would be great to see the Tubman Twenty and other denominations where politicians are removed in favor of figures more consistent with the preservation of liberty.