George Washington Carver example essay topic

What can you really say about George Washington Carver? Well the most important thing about Carver is that he came up with 300 different uses for the peanut as well as changing the means of agriculture. Carver lead an unusual life for a black slave, but he over came his background with hard work and determination. George Washing Carver was born into slavery like any other black American in the late 1800's. There is no exact date for his birth because he was a slave, however there is an assumption he was born during the year of 1864. His father was killed in an accident shortly after his birth.

Within that same year or so hi mother was abducted by the midnight raiders. So after the loss of his parents, it was their owners that took in George. Their names were Moses and Susan Carver. At a young age George was interested in learning and fascinated by plants. The Carver's were the ones to first teach George the basics of reading and writing.

However when George turned eleven years old he went off to a black school in Neosho, Missouri. While he was in Neosho, George ended up doing household chores for a black family in exchange for food and a place to stay. Throughout all these changes in George's live one thing remained constant and that was his passion about plants and agriculture. George worked his way through high school and eventually went on to college. The first college that he attended was Simpson's College in Iowa, where he made the study of plants his main focus of study.

In 1891 he transferred over to Iowa State University. It was at Iowa State that he obtained his Bachelor of Science in botany. He continued to go to Iowa State to get his Masters in botany as well. While he was working on his masters degree, Carver also taught some botany classes and did experiment on plants. These experiments helped him in later years while he was working at Tuskegee. While he was working at Tuskegee he helped to change their agriculture department.

When he first arrived the department was just a barn with some cows and chickens. He later changed that into a laboratory and even got the name of the department changed to agricultural sciences. It was there in Tuskegee that Carver came up with his 300 different uses for peanuts and soy beans. In addition to changing the agricultural departments, Carver also helped to change farming during the early 1900's. The main crop that was growing and selling at the time was cotton. So Carver went on to explore the nutritional value of the peanut.

Carver began to focus most of his attention toward soil conservation and how to improve crop production. In 1914, Carver began focusing his research on peanuts. In 1921 Carver received national attention for lecturing about the many uses of peanuts to a committee of Congress. He later gave lectures throughout much of the country in an effort to promote peanuts. Carver also helped to solve the problem of malnutrition among black farmers. He showed the farmers how peanuts were a good source of protein and can be very valuable to their diets.

Along with how to improve their diet, Carver showed the women how to prepare and preserver a well balanced meal for their families. George Washington Carver did not do just one thing in the name of science, he came up with many useful ideas / inventions. Along with coming up with 300 different uses for the peanut, he also found 100 different usages for pecans and sweet potatoes. In addition to his discoveries with peanuts, sweet potatoes, pecans and soy beans, George Washington Carver developed many other things. Some of the tings he has come up with are process for manufacturing paper, ink, shaving cream, linoleum, synthetic rubber, plastics, bleach and metal polish. He was a very modest man, he had come up with over 500 inventions but he only patented three of them.

Most of his inventions were agricultural but he felt there was no need to patent them all. Out of all the money Carver had earned of his lifetime, he never kept much of it. Most of his money he made went to a fund in his name to encourage research in agriculture. In 1943 George Washington Carver died unmarried but successful. I chose to write this biography about George Washington Craver because I found his work to be very interesting.

I thought it was amazing that he overcame his background to become what he is. I found his life to be very interesting and can be very inspirations to African American students. Craver started his live out as a slave, but through hard work and determination he became a famous in the way agricultural has changed. He is a good example of how to follow your dreams and interests.

I also found him breaking out of the normal stereotype of black people being very inspirational.

Bibliography

1. web - This site gave me a biography on George Washington Craver's school career. It also discusses what he had done with agriculture and his work with peanuts. 2. web bh 067. html&direct = yes This website gives the reader information on Carvers yearly years, his works in Tuskegee and talks about his awards he was given. 3. web This website gives a brief summary of his life, and his discoveries with peanuts.