Ashland Documentary Film & Discussion Series Presents “Resistance and Repression: Origins of U.S. Capitalism,” July 13th

The Ashland Documentary Film & Discussion Series will present a film, “Resistance and Repression: Origins of U.S. Capitalism” on Thursday, July 13, 7 to 9 pm at the Ashland Library, Community Room, 66 Front St. The event is free and open to the public.
The film, “Resistance and Repression: Origins of U.S. Capitalism,” views the birth of the Republic not as an idealized achievement of gifted minds and great men but rather as a history of repression and resistance between the propertied classes and the property-less workers and laborers.
Beginning just after the civil war, this documentary examines the bitter, violent struggle between working people and owners of capital. The film includes the role of race before, during and after Reconstruction and examines Irish slavery and immigration. Shay’s Rebellion in Western Massachusetts was about civil war veterans who could not afford the taxes levied against them. Owners of property feared the rebellion would spread, and indeed it did to Rhode Island, Virginia and elsewhere. A federal militia was formed to crush the rebellion. The film covers the 1877 railroad insurrection and the rise of socialism and anarchism as workers sought to implement systems of production controlled by workers for the benefit of workers.
The Ashland Documentary Film & Discussion Series meets in the Ashland Library Community Room every second Thursday of the month. The films are sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Library. For more information, call the library, 508-881-0134, or visit www.friendsoftheapl.com.