George Washington Carver: From Slave to Scientist

George Washington Carver was born a slave in Missouri. A year after his birth, the emancipation proclamation ended slavery. At liberty to pursue a formal education, he enrolled at Iowa College. He was the first African American to do so. After receiving a Master of Science degree in bacterial botany, Carver went on to discover over 300 uses for the peanut and over 100 for sweet potatoes. One of his more timely discoveries was his development of the crop rotation method. In the early 1900's soil was being depleted by the continual planting of cotton and tobacco crops. Carver’s valuable technique prevented further depletion and helped the economic recovery of the South. During a time when the efforts toward farming by Black men was all physical, Carver’s used his intelligence as a scientist to prove that African Americans had something more to offer.