Congolese Rubber Trade

In the period from 1885 to 1908 many well documented atrocities were perpetrated in the congo free state today the democratic republic of the congo which at the time was a colony under the personal rule of king leopold ii of the belgians these atrocities were particularly associated with the labour policies used to collect natural rubber for export.

Congolese rubber trade. Almost overnight rubber became the congo s most sought after export. The congo rubber genus landolphia came from wild vines in the jungle which cannot be cultivated unlike the rubber from brazil hevea brasiliensis which was tapped from. In 1890 the year conrad traveled in congo the state exported a modest 133 666 kilograms of rubber. By 1898 there were no longer any british shareholders and the anglo.

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. The country that began as a king s private domain the congo free state evolved into a colony the belgian congo became independent in 1960 as the republic of the congo and later underwent several name changes to the democratic republic of the congo then to zaire and back again to the democratic republic of the congo is the product of a complex pattern of historical forces. By 1896 it exported ten times as much 1 317 346 kilos enough to be the biggest rubber producer in africa. These forced the natives to deliver all ivory and rubber harvested or found to state officers thus nearly completing leopold s monopoly of the ivory and rubber trade.

état indépendant du congo. 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. The abir congo company founded as the anglo belgian india rubber company and later known as the compagnie du congo belge was a company that exploited natural rubber in the congo free state the private property of king leopold ii of belgium the company was founded with british and belgian capital and was based in belgium. Kongo vrijstaat was a large state in central africa from 1885 to 1908.

The scheme was a huge success. Other names for this vine are eta the white rubber vine and the congo rubber plant. Congo rubber was a commercial rubber exported from the congo free state starting in 1890 most notable for its forced harvesting under. The amazon rubber boom portuguese.

The rubber regime initially government and commercial agents focused on acquiring ivory but inventions like the car dramatically increased the demand for rubber. The congo free state also known as the independent state of the congo french.