Death of George Carver Did Not End His Everlasting Legacy
“It is simply service that measures success”,(George Washington Carver). George Carver was born in the year 1864. He died in the year 1943. Carver was the first African American to have a national masterpiece dedicated to him. Carver’s most common name was the Peanut Man. He was not named Peanut Man because he invented peanuts. He has named the Peanut Man because his revolution in Agriculture world made peanuts an important part of the American diet. George Carver was a well-known chemist who made powerful agricultural discoveries and designs. George Carver's legacy is as yet alive in the American culture for the most part as a result of his contribution to Agriculture and furthermore improvement of the connection between races in the USA.
Carver believed that planting only cotton was crucial because of what it was doing to the soil so he emphasized the idea that farmers must plant more than cotton in order to solve the problem. In Tuskegee, Alabama farmers were planting cotton as their batch or crop. The main issue was that cotton breeding deprived and drained the soil of its nutrients, to the point that the cotton was reduced in a very short period of time. Carver stressed the concept of crop circulation, planting different types of crops that included cowpeas, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and specifically peanuts, to improve the soil. He cared mostly about poor southern farmers. George Carver discovered more affordable methods to fertilize the soil that comprised adding compost. Since Carver came up with different and cheaper ways to fertilize he was eventually able to convince Southern and African American farmers to plant other products not only cotton. He believed that this was the only way he could save the Southern economy.
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Southern and African American farmers were growing too many crops of peanuts that were not useful, so Carver decided to start researching peanuts science and how peanuts can be useful for all Americans. Carver was very detailed in giving meaning to the african american farmers to convince them to stay and grow crops in the South. Thus, he was able to save the economy of the South. George’s research on peanuts led to successful and highly profitable commerce. Carver was able to convince even more southern farmers to plant peanuts because he found many important uses for peanuts. Carver did briefly enormous research on peanuts to the point that he found more than 325 uses of peanuts. Some cosmetic uses of peanuts found by Carver are lotions, rubbing oils, and facial creams. These cosmetic products found by Carver are still used until today’s date.
Even though there were many types of medicine found by pharmacists, Carver decided to find some medical uses for peanuts such as treatment for polio disease. Carver provided a free peanut message that he thought assisted one young innocent child. He was able to release the pain and symptoms caused by polio disease for one child. The child was able to move again after Carver had messaged his body with peanut oil. Despite that, some people disagreed that it was not the peanut oil that helped the child walk again rather it was the massage Carver had done for him. Many other people argued that it was the peanut oil that helped heal the little boy from polio disease.
Another crop that Carver was interested in was sweet potatoes. Carver found more than seventy-three uses for sweet potatoes. Some of the most helpful use Carver found were rope, cereal, synthetic silk, shoe polish, and pancake syrup. He addressed the nutritive factors not only of peanuts but also of sweet potatoes. Carver was also able to find an infinite amount of recipes that included his favorite type of plants. He traveled to India to meet Mahatma Gandhi in order to discuss the issue of nutritious diets in developing countries.
Carver was able to find over seventy-five different uses for products made from pecans. He was not the only person who found many uses for soybeans, George Washington Carver worked with Henry Ford to discover synthesized rubber. Just like how Carver was able to find uses for peanuts, Carver was also able to generate stains and paints from soybeans. Craver’s influence is very enormous even until today’s date because he was able to find many products from plants that are still used until today’s date. Carver invented synthesized rubber with the help of Henry Ford, yet he was the one who came up with the idea of finding different uses for an infinite amount of crops.
There are many textbooks written by many authors that focus mainly on the enormous achievements of George Carver, his creations, and his views on successful agriculture. However, this was just a very little segment of this man’s legacy for he was also able to change the negative views white and black people had of each other.
Carver had a huge impact on African Americans as a teacher. He was a firm believer in educating every person no matter if they were white or black. Carver was mainly teaching young students who were just one generation free from slavery, so he emphasized not only chemistry and agriculture but also the directions on how to live in life. He noticed how discrimination was stepping in the way of success for his African American students, yet he convinced them that in the near future, the world will become a just place. In the beginning, only a few African American students were attending Carver’s lectures and speeches. However, over a couple of years when Carver became a famous influencing speaker many Americans from both races black and white were attending his lectures in the article “George Washington Carver: Chemist, Teacher, Symbol”, the author states, “ Both groups were committed to furthering interracial harmony”. Carver was slowly changing the racist closed-minded society into an open-minded society through his speeches in Interracial Cooperation and the Young Men's Christian Association.
Carver was able to deliver many of his ideas and beliefs through his speeches. Carver delivered a speech for the new Peanut Growers Association of America. This corporation was supporting the idea that the legislative assembly will pass a tariff to save the fresh and new American industry from foreign crops. So, “as a result of this speech, he testified before Congress in 1921 and the tariff was passed in 1922”.(Bagely, Mary). What Carver did was very important since he was the first person to create a worth millions of dollars industry of peanuts, so it was his mission to convince Congress to pass the tariff in order to protect the industry. Even at the age of 79 years old Carver was still the reason why peanuts were part of such a successful industry and an important part of the American diet. In the year 1938, mainly because of Carver’s influence, peanuts had developed to be a $200-million-per-year crop in the United States. Carver’s industry of peanuts has grown tremendously and it is the reason why he is still remembered today’s date because of his impact on American Agricultural society.
George Carver wrote” The Need of Scientific Agriculture in The South,'' That was the seventh of forty-four free bulletins he provided from 1898 to 1943, and an enormous amount of them had recipes. His bulletins included ways How to Cook Cow Peas. He also concluded the three different meals farmers are able to make from their plants. He taught and inspired farmers about the different one hundred fifteen ways to prepare tomatoes in different meals. In his bulletins, he was able to teach southern farmers the different ways of growing tomatoes as well.
The movable school was regulated in many places. The first movable school was the Jesup Agricultural Wagon in 1906. The last movable school was the Booker T. Washington Agricultural School on Wheels in the year 1944. He evolved and put into action the Jesup Agricultural Wagon, a school-on-wheels. The school-on-wheels carried out agriculture supplies and visualizing materials to the countryside farmers that can not travel around. In the year 1906, the school-on-wheels invented by Carver reached two thousand rural farmers in the first month of operation. Every weekend he was able to teach many farmers the art of taking care of the land.
Carver’s discoveries of the uses of peanuts are not the only reason he should be remembered for. Carver had done many amazing accomplishments that had improved the lives of Americans in many ways. Most people think that the 300 uses of peanuts are the only achievement Carver had achieved, the reason is that peanuts had been featured more than much of his work. Carver's thinking was very comprehensive and most importantly understanding how important it is to have healthy land or environment in order to improve the health of the people who live in the USA. Carver’s legacy goes beyond words because he wanted people to open their eyes to the world around them. Carver believed that it was important to plant the crops and truly take care of the land because then the land will give back these crops that can be used in great ways as a reward.
George Carver’s legacy is still alive in American society mostly because of his contribution to Agriculture and also the improvement of the relation between races in the USA. Carver saved farming and the economy in the South for African American farmers. Carver was able to discover more than 300 uses for peanuts such as lotions, cosmetics, plastics, paints, and diet recipes. Carver was able to discover seventy-two uses of potatoes in the American diet. Carver was a greater preacher for the youth through his speeches he was able to make a better relationship between black and white college students. Carver's contribution to Agriculture still has a great impact today date, because he taught farmers to care about their lands so as a payback their land can give back crops to the farmers. Carver was an individual that truly left his mark and legacy on American society through his service.
Works Cited
- “George W. Carver (1865? - 1943).” George Washington Carver - Historic Missourians - The State Historical Society of Missouri, shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/c/carver/index.html.
- www.history.com/topics/black-history/george-washington-carver
- Satterfield, Ken. “George Washington Carver's Legacy.” Word Way, 22 Feb. 2007, wordandway.org/2007/02/22/george-washington-carver-s-legacy/.
- Editors, History.com. “George Washington Carver.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009,
- “The Legacy of George Washington Carver, Tuskegee Educator, Innovator, and Renaissance Man.” IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law, 10 Dec. 2014, www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/02/12/the-legacy-of-george-washington-carver-tuskegee-educator-innovator-and-renaissance-man/id=47963/.
- Tuskegee University, www.tuskegee.edu/support-tu/george-washington-carver.
- www.history.com/topics/black-history/george-washington-carver
- “George Washington Carver.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 10 June 2018, www.biography.com/scientist/george-washington-carver.
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