The peanut, which is actually not a nut, but a legume, originated in South America and was spread throughout the New World by the Spaniards (who also brought them back to Europe). The peanut found its way to North America on sailing ships in the 1700's. At first, popularity for the peanut was almost non-existent in North America; it was regarded as food for the poor. It was not until the Civil War that popularity for the peanut grew in the United States; both Northern and Southern soldiers used them for food. The expansion of the peanut industry in North America was the brainchild of George Washington Carver (a talented botanist) who recognized the value of the peanut as a cash crop. It was his idea for peanuts to planted as a rotation crop in the cotton-growing areas of the South; this changed Southern farming forever. Today the U.S. is the world's third largest producer of peanuts.
The most common uses of peanuts are: peanut butter, peanut snack (salted or unsalted), peanut confections (used widely in candy making), and peanut oil.
