Why did Carver testify to Congress in 1921?

To speak about peanuts and a tariff

Carver Crop Research Quiz: Peanuts, Sweet Potatoes and Soil

This carver crop research quiz walks the fields at Tuskegee. Play 10 interactive questions on his move to Tuskegee Institute in 1896, cotton exhausting the soil, nitrogen-fixing peanuts and cowpeas, sweet potatoes, hundreds of uses for crops, the Jesup Wagon classroom on wheels, his 1921 testimony to Congress and the myth that he invented peanut butter.

Start Carver Crop Research Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

School
Where did Carver work from 1896?
Invite
Who invited Carver to Tuskegee?
Cotton
Which crop had worn out Southern soils?
Fix
Why did Carver promote peanuts?
Rot
What farming method did Carver promote?
Sweet
Which other crop did Carver champion?
Wagon
What was the Jesup Wagon?
Congress
Why did Carver testify to Congress in 1921?
Myth
Which popular claim about Carver is a myth?
Born
What were the circumstances of Carver's birth?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where did Carver work from 1896?
Answer: Tuskegee Institute
In Alabama.
Q2: Who invited Carver to Tuskegee?
Answer: Booker T. Washington
The school's leader.
Q3: Which crop had worn out Southern soils?
Answer: Cotton
Grown year after year.
Q4: Why did Carver promote peanuts?
Answer: They add nitrogen to the soil
Legumes enrich soil.
Q5: What farming method did Carver promote?
Answer: Crop rotation
Changing crops yearly.
Q6: Which other crop did Carver champion?
Answer: Sweet potatoes
Hundreds of uses.
Q7: What was the Jesup Wagon?
Answer: A mobile classroom for farmers
Bringing lessons to fields.
Q8: Why did Carver testify to Congress in 1921?
Answer: To speak about peanuts and a tariff
He impressed lawmakers.
Q9: Which popular claim about Carver is a myth?
Answer: That he invented peanut butter
Peanut butter existed earlier.
Q10: What were the circumstances of Carver's birth?
Answer: Born into slavery in Missouri
In the 1860s.

Healing Worn-Out Fields

George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri in the 1860s and became a renowned agricultural scientist. In 1896 Booker T. Washington invited him to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Years of growing cotton had worn out Southern soils. Carver promoted crop rotation with peanuts, cowpeas and sweet potatoes; legumes such as peanuts add nitrogen to the soil. To create demand, he developed hundreds of uses for these crops, and the Jesup Wagon brought lessons directly to farmers in the fields.

In 1921 Carver testified to Congress about peanuts and a tariff, impressing lawmakers. A popular myth says he invented peanut butter, but it existed before him. His real legacy was helping poor farmers improve their land.

What This Quiz Teaches

History fans will enjoy these questions.

Where Carver worked
Why soil was depleted
Which crops he promoted
How he taught farmers
Which myth surrounds him

Did You Know?

He was also a talented painter.
He studied at Iowa State.
A national monument honors him.
He shared his ideas freely.
He experimented with natural dyes.