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George Washington Carver Trivia Questions

How much do you really know about George Washington Carver? Below are 8 true or false statements. Click each one to reveal the answer and explanation.

1.

Carver was born into slavery during the Civil War and later became a renowned agricultural scientist.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

Carver was born enslaved in Missouri around 1864. After emancipation, he overcame poverty to earn degrees and become a famous botanist and inventor at Tuskegee Institute.

2.

Carver developed over 300 uses for peanuts, including shampoo, ink, and synthetic rubber.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

Carver famously created hundreds of peanut-based products, such as dyes, plastics, cosmetics, and even a rubber substitute, to boost peanut farming and reduce cotton dependency.

3.

Carver famously discovered the sweet potato and taught farmers how to grow it for profit.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

Sweet potatoes were already known in the Americas long before Carver. He did promote them as a rotation crop and developed over 100 uses for them, but he didn't discover them.

4.

Carver turned down a job offer from Thomas Edison to work at his laboratory in New Jersey.

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Medium
✓ TRUE

In the 1910s, Edison offered Carver a high salary to work at his lab, but Carver declined, preferring to stay at Tuskegee to help poor Black farmers in the South.

5.

George Washington Carver invented peanut butter, but he never actually liked it.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

Carver did not invent peanut butter; the ancient Incas and later John Harvey Kellogg had earlier versions. Carver promoted peanuts but reportedly didn't care for peanut butter himself.

6.

Carver was the first person to successfully cross-breed a peanut and a cotton plant in a lab.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

Peanuts and cotton are from different plant families and cannot cross-breed. This is a fabricated claim; Carver focused on crop rotation and alternative crops, not hybridization of unrelated species.

7.

Carver was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in agricultural science from Iowa State.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

Carver earned a Master of Science degree in 1896, not a Ph.D. He was the first Black graduate of Iowa State, but his doctorate was honorary, awarded later by Simpson College.

8.

Carver advised Mahatma Gandhi on nutrition and agriculture through letters in the 1930s.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

Carver corresponded with Gandhi, who sought advice on improving nutrition and farming in India. Carver sent suggestions about soybeans and peanuts, and Gandhi appreciated his insights.

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