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Harriet Tubman to Replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Treasury official says Secretary Jacob Lew has decided to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, making her the first woman on U.S. paper currency in 100 years.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of Lew's official announcement, says that the 19th century abolitionist and leader of the Underground Railroad, would replace the portrait of Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president.

The announcement is expected to provide details on other changes being made to the $20, $10 and $5 bills.

The decision to place Tubman's portrait on the $20 likely means that Lew has decided to keep Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill.

The Obama administration had earlier announced plans to put a woman on the $10 bill but the renewed interest in Hamilton, the nation's first Treasury secretary, pushed the government to abandon that idea and instead target the $20 bill for a redesign.

Hamilton, who has been featured on the $10 bill since 1929, has recently risen in popularity due to the hit Broadway musical that bears his name.

Tubman, an African-American, was a Civil War-era abolitionist.