The Ashland Documentary Film & Discussion Series will present part two of a three part series on the origins of U.S. capitalism. “Resistance and Repression: Origins of U.S. Capitalism” will be shown on Thursday, Sept. 14, 7 to 9 pm at the Ashland Library, Community Room, 66 Front St. The event is free and open to the public.
Part II examines the surprising strong populist, socialist, and anarchist movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with broad support across the Midwest and southern and eastern states. Oklahoma, Illinois, Texas, and even Rhode Island were hotbeds of radical thought and activism.
As the movements grew, they faced a crucial question: compromise with the Democratic Party to gain political power or remain outside party politics? In 1896 the Democratic Party nominated a compromise candidate, Williams Jennings Bryant, for president. Bryant was defeated by William McKinley. McKinley would be assassinated in 1901. Teddy Roosevelt became president.
The film explores Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, Frank Little, Ben Reitman, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), Samuel Gompers and the AFL (the American Federation of Labor). Throughout, the roles of racism, women’s suffrage, child labor, private police forces and corporate and state violence against workers are examined. Workers during this period are fighting for relief from 10-hour work days, seven days a week, for starvation wages, in harsh, dangerous conditions. For their resistance, they are attacked, beaten, imprisoned, hanged, deported, and murdered. Government forces, both federal and state, intervene on behalf of corporations.
The Ashland Documentary Film & Discussion Series meets at 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.
Issue Date:
September, 2017
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