Who will be on the next $10?

Aditya Vandanapu, Contributing Writer|November 3, 2015

The US Treasury announced in June, 2015, that the $10 bill would don a new person’s face.  But what makes someone worthy of being on our nation’s currency?

People are feature on American currency because they have contributed greatly to the country. George Washington, on the $1, was a founding father and a general of the Revolutionary War against Britain.

Thomas Jefferson, who is on the $2, was another founding father.  He doubled the size of the country through the Louisiana Purchase and co-wrote the Declaration Of Independence.  He was also the Secretary of State under Washington and the Vice President under John Adams.

Abraham Lincoln, who is on the $5, is famous for abolishing of slavery and giving the Gettysburg Address as well as being our sixteenth President.

Andrew Jackson, who is on the $20, is famous as war hero from the War of 1812 and was the seventh President of the United States.

Ulysses S Grant, who is on the $50, was a Civil War general and became the eighteenth President of the United States.

Benjamin Franklin, who is on the $100, also assisted in writing the Declaration of Independence and invented bifocal lenses.

Which brings us to Alexander Hamilton.  Hamilton, who is on the $10, was a chief staff aide to Washington and considered by many to be the founder of our nation’s financial system.  This $10 is the bill that will feature a new person in five years.

US Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew, said the new $10 bill will feature the face of an important woman from US history. The new $10 will appear in 2020, which happens to be the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

Many people have varying opinions on the change.  Andrew Scheller, junior, said that, “Alexander Hamilton should not be taken off the ten dollar bill because he was a great contributor as a founding father to the country and made the United States a capitalist-based economy.”

Mitchell Perez, junior, says that a transition of a new face on the ten dollar bill is not that significant, stating, “Money is money and no one cares about who is on the bill.”

The only criterion under the law is that the person must be dead.  According to The New York Times, Lew said the Treasury was looking for some a woman “who was a champion for our inclusive democracy.”  The Treasury has encouraged people to use the hashtag #TheNew10 to discuss who they think should appear on the new $10.