Have you ever been to a baseball games and craved for a bag of tasty peanuts, and couldn’t get them? Then you should have met George Washington Carver. You might know him as the peanut man, if not; you might recognize him as the first African American to produce over 300 peanut products. As Carver started his life as a slave, he discovered education is the number one goal in his life. Through education George Washington Carver became the first African American scientist, artist, and peanut producer who made millions of dollars.

George Washington Carver was born in 1864, Diamond grove, Missouri. He was born at the end of the Civil war. He had a mother, a father and a younger brother who worked as slaves. Carver’s mother was kidnapped by the Confederate night-riders.

Carver never heard from his father. He believed his father was working at the neighboring slave farm. After Carvers parents were gone, his new family adopted him and his brother. His adopted parents had a farm; there he fell in love with nature. That’s why his nickname was “The Plant Doctor” (Bellis Mary). There Carver learned to read lots of new books.

In Carvers time, education was a very valuable resource. Carver started his education at the early age of twelve. As a young black man, he attended a white school. How ever, Carver traveled to Missouri in search of new education. In Newton County he found an all black school and quickly enrolled. After attending school in Missouri, he traveled to Minneapolis to attend high school. At his high school his favorite teacher was J.L. Budd. Budd had a very positive influence on Carver, which pushed him to further his education at college. At the age of 30, in 1890 he entered Simpson College in Iowa. Carver was a part of Simpson college history, by being the first black male to enroll. He took advantage of extra activities by training with the Iowa football team.

Throughout Carvers life he had a lot of accomplishments. After college Carver moved to Kansas and build a sod house, to help him work on his discoveries. Carver learned to read and write at home. According to Carver, “I wanted to know every strange stone, flower, insect, bird, or beast (Adair Gene p. 21)”. In world war one Carver produced more than 500 shade dyes. Carver also invented more than 300 ways to grow peanuts. In 1903 he discovered many uses of the peanut. In 1920, peanut farmers surprisingly made forty million dollars from peanut sales.

George Washington Carver was mostly known for his hard work and intuition. Carver moved into Tuskegee, Alabama. Down there Carver was know a “Wizard of Tuskegee (Adair Gene p. 11)”, for his work in agricultural chemistry. Carver was an African American scientist. Carver was really good at art. He painted a lot of paintings. Carver’s salary was $100,000 a year, that’s like a million today. When Carver was six tee years old he became the household word (a famous person). Before Carver died he donated his life savings of money to the Research foundation. On January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee Alabama George Washington Carver died.

George Washington Carver was most known for his creativity and intelligence. He invented more than 300 products of peanuts. In addition, he discovered how to closely work with nature to further develop his love for peanuts. He was a household word at age six tee it means he became famous. That’s why Carver is a great citizen that helped our society.