History of peanuts in USA

The scientific name of the peanut is Arachis hypogaea. Plants in the genus Arachis originated in the Gran Pantanal, occupying between 50,000 and 75,000 square miles in parts of tropical Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.

They were taken from there to Africa by early explorers and missionaries. They were bought to North America from Africa by slave traders in the early colonial days and used as food for slaves while on shipboard.

In America, peanuts were not extensively used until after the Civil War in 1865. The first unequivocal reference to the peanut in America was made in 1769 by a Dr. Brownrigg, who pressed oil from peanuts in Edento, North Carolina. Commercial production of peanuts in USA began in about 1876.

With other food scarce, it became recognized as a cheap form protein and an important food source during the Civil War. During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers dined on ‘peanut porridge’. Peanuts did not become an important commercial crop in the United States until after 1917.
History of peanuts in USA