There are no images of black men on the $2 bill. Thomas Jefferson, founding father and president of the United States, is shown on the front of the U.S. $2 bill, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On the back is the painting “The Signing of the Declaration of Independence” by John Trumbull.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the first $2 bills were issued in 1862 and featured a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, founding father and first secretary of the Treasury. Thomas Jefferson replaced Alexander Hamilton on the $2 bill in 1869.
The phrase “The Signing of the Declaration of Independence” was first used in 1976 to commemorate the United States’ bicentennial. Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, so this image honours one of his greatest achievements.
None of the men depicted in “The Signing of the Declaration of Independence” are black, including Thomas Jefferson.
