Red Rubber Congo

Because of the human rights abuses suffered under king leopold ii s rule congo rubber was eventually nicknamed red rubber in reference to the blood of the africans killed during production.

Red rubber congo.

Congo red is a sodium salt that has the chemical formula c32h22n6na2o6s2. At one time congo red was used as a dye for clothing but has since been abandoned due to its toxicity. Congo rubber was a commercial rubber exported from the congo free state starting in 1890 most notable for its forced harvesting under. The belgian government eventually managed to wrest control of the congo in 1908 by which time the depredations of leopold s regime had caused the population to shrink by anything scholarly opinions differ between 15 and a half and the phrase red rubber had entered the vernacular as a shorthand for the horrors committed there.

Landolphia owariensis is a species of liana from the family apocynaceae found in tropical africa latex can be extracted from this plant for the manufacture of natural rubber. Start your review of red rubber. Red rubber system and forced labour congolese labourers tapping rubber near lusambo in kasai with the majority of the free state s revenues derived from the export of rubber a labour policy known by critics as the red rubber system was created to maximise its extraction. Publication date 1919 topics indigenous peoples congo democratic republic congo democratic republic history to 1908 genealogy.

Documentary about how king leopold ii of belgium acquired congo as a colony and. Under his control congo became a gulag labor camp of shocking brutality. White king red rubber black death describes how king leopold ii of belgium turned congo into its private colony between 1885 and 1908. The rubber regime initially government and commercial agents focused on acquiring ivory but inventions like the car dramatically increased the demand for rubber.

Rubber revenue went directly to king leopold ii who paid the free state for the high costs of exploitation. Directed by peter bate. Other names for this vine are eta the white rubber vine and the congo rubber plant. Unfortunately for the congo it was one of the only places in the world to have a large supply of wild rubber and the government and its affiliated trading companies quickly shifted their focus to extracting the suddenly.