Final answer:
The Michelin Rubber Plantation was a site of extreme labor exploitation, where workers collected rubber under deplorable conditions, and compensation was limited to basic sustenance. This was a part of a wider pattern of harsh conditions for laborers on plantations, which eventually underwent transformation after the abolition of slavery and land reforms.
Step-by-step explanation:
On the Michelin Rubber Plantation, labor practices reflected the harsh and exploitative conditions common to many European-owned plantations in colonized lands. In the Congo Free State, laborers working with rubber experienced extremely harsh conditions, including being forced to collect rubber by cutting into vines and letting the latex coat their bodies instead of using traditional tapping methods. This was because the demands for rubber were so high that efficiency took precedence over the wellbeing of the workers. The extracted latex then had to be painfully scraped off their skin, and compensation was minimal, often being limited to basic food provisions.
Throughout the plantation system, including rimland areas and other locations, enslaved Africans and other subjugated groups toiled under brutal circumstances, growing and processing cash crops such as sugar, rice, and tobacco. The labor was often dangerous and backbreaking, and workers faced severe punishments such as whipping and beating for not meeting production quotas or for minor transgressions. After the abolition of slavery and subsequent cultural revolutions, these plantation systems eventually saw transformations, leading to land reforms and changes in ownership patterns.