For the last year, there has been an on going discussion about getting women on paper money in the United States. In June of last year, Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew announced that a woman, to be named at a later date, would be replacing Alexander Hamilton on the ten-dollar bill. When this was announced, there were very few people that vocally cared about kicking the first Secretary of the Treasury off of the money except for a group called Women On 20’s who preferred that President Andrew Jackson be taken off the 20 instead. A year later though, they got their wish and instead of Hamilton, Jackson got the boot.

On April 20^th, Secretary Lew announced that in the coming few years, a series of women would be added to the money. The five and the 10 would have groups of women featured on the back and the 20 would feature Harriet Tubman on the front. On the five, fittingly enough, the back will feature many historical figures that were involved with the Lincoln Memorial such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. Backing up Hamilton on the 10 will be women that played a key role in the women’s suffrage movement such as Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony.

The biggest question here is what happened in the last year that caused the Treasury to change their minds about what bill get’s changed. Maybe the Treasury realized Jackson opposed paper money so it is a bit ironic that his image is depicted on it. Or maybe it is the fact that the father of our banking system probably deserves to stay on the product of something he created. Then, of course, there’s another possibility. Maybe it was the fact that a month after they announced Hamilton would be taken off of the front of the ten-dollar, a Broadway musical bearing his name opened to rave reviews and became an instant hit.

There is no doubt about the fact that this show has made Alexander Hamilton relevant again and with that relevance has come fans of the show voicing their support about keeping him on the ten-dollar bill. The show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda has voiced his opinion about the matter and even spoke to Secretary Lew about it when he attended the show. Whether the show, Miranda himself, or the support of the fans influenced Lew’s decision at all is unknown but it can be assumed that it played some part.

Whatever the case is, the fact that women will now be added to the nation’s currency is a victory for not only women, but for history. In the next few decades as these new bills enter circulation, kids will grow up seeing Tubman and all of the other women depicted with the men that founded the country. While the Founding Fathers without a doubt belong on the money, it is important to realize that women in this country have made valuable contributions to our history as well. The Treasury acknowledging this is a promising step in the right direction towards everyone acknowledging it.