George Washington Carver: The Peanut Man

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George Washington Carver

“George Washington Carver, who was not interested in being famous or amassing wealth found joy and honor in helping others, is considered one of America’s greatest but humblest of heroes. According to the World Book Dictionary, a hero is an individual admired for noble qualities and for his contribution to a particular field. The impact of “nature” and “nurture” on George were the greatest factors that enabled him to become a hero (United States). They “ultimately influenced him on his quest for education, which helped him become a renowned agricultural scientist, educator and humanitarian” (United States).

George Washington Carver was born some time in 1860 during the time of slavery on Moses Carver’s farm near Diamond, Missouri. Records of slave births were not kept accurately so his exact birthdate is unknown. George never knew his father who lived on a neighboring farm and died in an accident before George was born. Although George’s mother was Moses Carver’s slave, he and his wife, Susan, treated her and her children more like family. This initial “nurturing” by the Moses’ had a great impact on George, especially since slaves were usually never treated this way.

When George was an infant, he and his mother were kidnapped by southern slave raiders. Moses made a deal to exchange the two of them for his $300 horse. Unfortunately, only George was returned, because he was very ill with whooping cough and they thought he would die. Several years later, when slavery ended in 1865, George and his brother, Jim, were free, but were very young and could not survive on their own. Moses and Susan took them in and raised them as their sons, since they had no children of their own and George took the...

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...e.” (Carey 33) George is truly one of America’s greatest and most unselfish heroes.”

Works Cited

Brodie, James Michael. Created Equal: The Lives and Ideas of Black American Innovators. New York: W. Morrow, 1993. Print.

Carey, Charles W., Jr. George Washington Carver (Journey to Freedom: The African American Library). Washing D.C.: Child's World, 1999. Print.

Harness, Cheryl. The Groundbreaking, Chance-taking Life of George Washington Carver and Science & Invention in America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2008. Print.

Inventors and Inventions. Vol. 1. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2008. Print.

McMurry, Linda O. George Washington Carver, Scientist and Symbol. New York: Oxford UP, 1981. Print.

United States. National Park Service. "Not Just The Peanut Man." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 06 May 2014. Web. 10 May 2014.

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