George Washington Carver“George Washington Carver, who was not interested in becoming famous or accumulating wealth, found joy and honor in helping others, is considered one of the greatest but America's humblest heroes. According to the World Book Dictionary, a hero is an individual admired for his noble qualities and contribution in a particular field. The impact of “nature” and “nurture” on George were the most important factors that allowed him to become a hero (United States). They “eventually influenced him in his quest for education, which helped him become a renowned agricultural scientist, educator, and humanitarian” (United States). George Washington Carver was born in 1860 during the time of slavery on the Moses Carver farm near Diamond, Missouri. Records of slave births were not carefully kept, so his exact birth date is unknown. George never knew his father who lived on a nearby farm and died in an accident before George was born. Although George's mother was Moses Carver's slave, he and his wife Susan treated her and her children like family. This initial "education" by the Moses had a great impact on George, especially since slaves were usually never treated this way. When George was an infant, he and his mother were kidnapped by Southern slave raiders. Moses made a deal to trade the two of them for his $300 horse. Unfortunately only George was returned, as he was very ill with whooping cough and was thought to die. Several years later, when slavery ended in 1865, George and his brother Jim were free, but they were very young and could not survive on their own. Moses and Susan took them in and raised them as their own children, as they had no children of their own and George took the... center of the paper... and." (Carey 33) George is truly one of America's greatest and most selfless heroes" Works Cited Brodie, James Michael. Created Equal: The Lives and Ideas of Black American Innovators. New York: W. Morrow, 1993. Print.Carey, Charles W., Jr. George Washington Carver (Journey to Freedom: The African American Library). Washing DC: Child's World, 1999. Print. Harness, Cheryl. The Revolutionary and Adventurous Life of George Washington Carver and Science and Invention in America. Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2008. Print. Inventors and inventions. vol. 1. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2008. Print.McMurry, Linda O. George Washington Carver, Scientist and symbol. New York: Oxford UP, 1981. United States the Peanut Man." National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, May 6, 2014. Web. May 10 2014.