Full Text of HR0054 102nd General Assembly
HR0054 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Harriet Tubman was born Araminta "Minty" Ross in | 3 | | the early 1820s in Dorchester County, Maryland; she was | 4 | | enslaved at a young age and began working the field by | 5 | | harvesting flax at age 13; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Harriet Tubman escaped when she was around 27 | 7 | | years old; she walked the nearly 90 miles to Philadelphia, | 8 | | where she took jobs as a domestic and cook and spent summers | 9 | | working in Cape May, New Jersey; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Harriet Tubman returned to Maryland approximately | 11 | | 13 times to rescue as many as 70 enslaved people through the | 12 | | Underground Railroad, which was a network of escape routes and | 13 | | safe houses organized by Black and white abolitionists; she | 14 | | claimed she never lost a passenger; she gave instructions to | 15 | | 70 others who found their own way to freedom; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, If Harriet Tubman had been caught, she would have | 17 | | faced physical punishment and been sold back into slavery in | 18 | | the Deep South due to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman worked for | 20 | | the Union Army as a scout, spy, guerrilla soldier, and nurse; | 21 | | this makes her one of the first Black women to serve in the |
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| 1 | | military; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, After the war, Harriet Tubman became involved in | 3 | | the campaign for women's suffrage along with Elizabeth Cady | 4 | | Stanton and Susan B. Anthony; in 1859, she purchased a home in | 5 | | Auburn, New York and established it as a home for the elderly; | 6 | | and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Harriet Tubman died in 1913 and was buried with | 8 | | military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, In 2014, President Barack Obama launched the | 10 | | effort to get Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill after receiving a | 11 | | letter from a girl from Massachusetts saying women should | 12 | | appear on currency; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, In April of 2016, President Obama announced that | 14 | | Harriet Tubman would be replacing President Andrew Jackson on | 15 | | the $20 and that Jackson would be moved into a scene of the | 16 | | White House on the reverse side; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, For years, critics have called for Jackson to be | 18 | | removed from the $20 bill because of his legacy of supporting | 19 | | the institution of slavery, having owned 95 enslaved people | 20 | | months before he became president and bringing 14 of them to | 21 | | the White House, and for his role in the forced, violent |
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| 1 | | transfer of tens of thousands of Native Americans from the | 2 | | South on what became known as the Trail of Tears; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The new design was initially scheduled for 2020 | 4 | | but stalled under President Trump who called the move "pure | 5 | | political correctness" and said that Jackson "had a great | 6 | | history"; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, No women or people of color have ever been | 8 | | pictured on a denomination of currency still in circulation; | 9 | | therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 11 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 12 | | we urge the federal government to replace Andrew Jackson with | 13 | | Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent | 15 | | to President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the | 16 | | Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the United States | 17 | | Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States | 18 | | House of Representatives, and all members of the Illinois | 19 | | Congressional delegation.
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