Plaskett To Treasury Dept: Keep Hamilton On Ten Dollar Bill

Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett is asking the United States Treasury Department to reconsider their decision to replace Alexander Hamilton on the ten dollar bill, according to a press release Plaskett’s office issued on Monday evening.

Plaskett, in the letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, lauded Treasury’s decision to recognize women’s contributions to the nation, but noted that Hamilton, as one of the founding fathers and the nation’s first treasury secretary, should remain on the ten dollar bill.

“While I applaud the Treasury Department for advancing the conversation concerning the inclusion of women on the dollar bill, I take issue with the idea that anyone should replace or share space with one of the most influential of our Founding Fathers, particularly the individual who laid the cornerstone in creating our monetary system,” Plaskett said.

On Sunday, The Consortium’s Sunday columnist Teri Helenese wrote a compelling op-ed urging President Obama to keep the Virgin Islander, who was born in  Nevis, on the bill.

Alexander Hamilton began his working career at a merchant company on the St. Croix and later served as aide-de-camp and chief of staff to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

“Following his election,” Plaskett wrote, “President Washington appointed Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury, at which point he established the modern U.S. fiscal, monetary, tax and accounting systems, as well as the U.S. central bank. The bank notes of this central bank were the first paper monies issued by this new government. In addition to these foundational measures for the nation, he helped establish a school to educate Native American students and is believed by many historians to have been a leading anti-slavery advocate.”

Plaskett closed her letter to Secretary Lew affirming Hamilton’s contribution to the nation and the importance of his being memorialized on the nation’s currency.

“Quite simply, Alexander Hamilton is an American deserving of being memorialized on our currency given his outsized influence on the founding of our nation and its monetary systems. As the representative of the U.S. Virgin Islands, please know that our islands hold dear the memory of our Alexander Hamilton. I hope that as the process of including women on our paper currency continues, the actions of Hamilton and his contributions are appropriately remembered and memorialized,” Plaskett wrote.