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Article: Carver, George Washington
- Article from:
- Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CARVER, GEORGE WASHINGTON
Agricultural chemist George Washington Carver (1861?
–
1943) devoted his life to developing industrial applications for farm products. His research developed hundreds of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes and pecans. Although many of these products could be mass-produced more successfully from other materials and none were a commercial success, Carver's work helped liberate the economy of the South from an excessive dependence on cotton.
Carver was born during the American Civil War (1861
–
1865) near Diamond Grove, Missouri, the son of a slave woman. He was only an infant when he and his mother were sent to Arkansas where slaveholding was still ...