George Washington Carver: Farmers Had Tired Soil… He Gave Them Peanuts

In 1921, a scientist was given ten minutes to speak to the United States Congress about peanuts.

When the time was up, nobody stopped him.

This is the story of George Washington Carver.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Farmer. A farmer is a person who grows food or keeps animals on a farm.

Poor farmers in the South grew only cotton.

Crop. A crop is a plant that farmers grow in large amounts, like rice, wheat or cotton.

Cotton was the main crop in the South.

Soil. Soil is the top layer of the earth, where plants grow.

Year after year, cotton made the soil weak.

Healthy. Healthy means strong and in good condition.

Peanuts made the soil healthy again.

Peanut. A peanut is a small nut that grows under the ground.

He found about 300 uses for peanuts.

Now, one pattern: by + verb-ing.

We use it to say how something is done.

He planted peanuts.

The soil got better.

He fixed tired soil by planting peanuts.

Ready? Let's begin.

George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri, around 1864.

Nobody knows the exact date.

When he was a baby, robbers took him and his mother away.

A neighbour brought George back, but his mother never came home.

After slavery ended, Moses and Susan Carver raised him.

He was often sick, so he helped in the garden.

He learned about plants by watching them closely.

The neighbours called him the Plant Doctor.

The local school did not accept Black children.

So, at about eleven, he went to a school eight miles away.

A kind woman told him: "Learn all you can, then give your learning back to your people."

A college accepted him by letter.

But when he arrived, they saw that he was Black and sent him away.

He did not give up.

In 1891, he became the first Black student at Iowa State.

In 1896, he moved to Tuskegee, a school for Black students in Alabama.

Poor farmers in the South grew only cotton.

Cotton was the main crop in the South, and year after year, cotton made the soil weak.

His answer was simple: grow peanuts and sweet potatoes too.

Peanuts put goodness back into the ground.

He fixed tired soil by planting peanuts.

Peanuts made the soil healthy again.

But many farmers could not come to his school.

So he made a school on wheels, a wagon full of tools and seeds, and took his lessons to the farms.

He taught farmers by showing them, not just by telling them.

Soon there were lots of peanuts.

But who would buy them?

He went back to his laboratory.

He found about 300 uses for peanuts, from milk and flour to ink and dyes.

In 1921, he spoke to Congress about peanuts.

He was given ten minutes.

When the time was up, the chairman said: "Go ahead, brother."

"Your time is unlimited."

He spoke for much, much longer.

He had only three patents.

He did not try to get rich.

He died in 1943.

That same year, his birthplace became the first national monument in America for an African American.

Let's review. Poor farmers in the South grew only cotton.

Cotton was the main crop in the South.

Year after year, cotton made the soil weak.

Peanuts made the soil healthy again.

He found about 300 uses for peanuts.

And remember: he fixed tired soil by planting peanuts.

George Washington Carver's story teaches us: use what you know to help the people around you.

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