Topic: Women on U.S. Currency

April 26, 2016

THE BASICS Topic: Women on U.S. Currency

Articles  “ Clinton: Putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill isn’t enough” (4/22) (Politico)  “ An Open Letter From Secretary Lew” (4/20) (medium.com)  “ Harriet Tubman Ousts Andrew Jackson in Change for a $20” (4/20) (The NY Times)  “ Should Woman Go on $10 Bill or $20 Bill?” (4/18) (ABC News)  “ America’s ‘Hamilton’ Obsession is Officially Shaping the Future of Money” (4/17) (Huffington Post)

Questions to Consider  What is the significance of honoring a person by placing him or her on our currency? Should that person be on the face of the money?  Is it time for a woman to be pictured on our currency? Why or why not?  Who is being replaced in order to provide a spot for a woman?  What are the criteria for replacing a person on currency? What are the criteria for adding a woman to our currency?  Is location on the back rather than the front of the bill sending a message?  Should Susan B. Anthony have been the first woman on our currency? Why or why not? Who are Lucretia Mott and Alice Paul?  Who is Harriet Tubman? What qualifications does she have to be on U.S. money?  Who is Sojourner Truth? What qualifications does she have to be on U.S. money?  Who is Elizabeth Cady Stanton? What qualifications does she have to be on U.S. money?  Who is President Andrew Jackson? Why was he a candidate to be replaced on the twenty dollar-bill?  Who is Eleanor Roosevelt? Why was she one of the top choices to appear on U.S. currency in 2015?  Who is Jack Lew? What are the Treasury Department’s requirements for changing currency?  What changes should take place on coins?  What does the appearance of new faces on our money mean? Why is change threatening?  Is money a form of speech? If so, what do the new faces on currency say?  How do other countries select honorees for their currency?  Why is it required that persons pictured on money are no longer living?  Who would you select to be honored by being pictured on our money? What would you use as criteria? THE EXTRAS Pre-teaching, Extensions & Further Reading  “ Introducing the New $20, $10, and $5!” (Modern Money)  U.S. Department of Treasury  “ Who is Marian Anderson, The Woman on the New $5 Bill” (Newsweek)  “ Anthony, Mott, Truth, Stanton and Paul: Meet the Women on the New $10 Bill” (NBC News)

Lesson Plans  “ A picture is worth a thousand words” (PBS Newshour)  “ Images of Money and Wealth in American History” (MoneyInstructor.com)

What’s the Connection? Constitutional  “ Article I” (Legal Information Institute)  “ Official: Tubman replaces Jackson, Hamilton on currency” (Constitution Daily) Oregon  “ Changing the face of U.S. Currency” (Daily Emerald) Students  “ Exclusive: Read a 9-Year-Old’s Letter to Obama About Putting a Woman on U.S. Currency – and His Response” (Time)

Oregon State Social Science Standards 8.21. Analyze important political and ethical values such as freedom, democracy, equality, and justice embodied in documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. HS.33. Explain the role of government in various current events. HS.35. Examine the pluralistic realities of society (e.g., race, poverty, gender, and age), recognizing issues of equity, and evaluating need for change. HS.59. Demonstrate the skills and dispositions needed to be a critical consumer of information. HS.60. Analyze an event, issue, problem, or phenomenon form varied or opposing perspectives or points of view.

CCSS Anchor Standards 2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. 4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. 6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. 8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

We the People Lesson Connections Middle School, Level 2  Unit 3, Lesson 15: How did the Framer resolve the conflict about the powers of the legislative branch? High School, Level 3  Unit 4, Lesson 21: What is the role of Congress in American constitutional democracy?  Unit 4, Lesson 22: How does Congress perform its functions in the American constitutional system?