John Scopes Controversy

Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion concentrates on the Scopes trial, otherwise called the "Monkey Trial," which happened in Dayton, Tennessee in the mid year of 1925. The trial occurred in excess of a Tennessee law that banned the educating of human development out in the open schools. The American Civil Liberties Union needed to test the law, and a junior instructor named John Scopes, consented to help them. The alleged "trial of the century" united the well known government official and speaker, William Jennings Bryan, who headed the opposition to development campaign; and Clarence Darrow, who was viewed as the best criminal protection legal advisor of the time. The two men, plus their individual direction, clashed in the trail with the indictment in the end ready to maintain the law.

On March 21st, 1925 the governor of Tennessee signed the Butler Bill which banned the teaching of evolution in public schools. The bill was introduced as America was pushing for a return to fundamentalism due to the actions of many citizens. In an attempt to bring publicity to the town of Dayton, Tennessee people in the town asked John Thomas Scopes to cover evolution in his class so he can be indicted and bring the case to national attention. Scopes’ defense attorney was a man named Clarence Darrow; he was a very popular defense attorney and public speaker. Darrow delivered a powerful speech in which he tried to prove the Butler Bill unconstitutional due to the fact that it

The twentieth century Scopes trial may have started out as a simple debate between evolutionists and creationists, but quickly escalated to a debate of historic proportions. The 1920s were times of change in the United States, from women getting the right to vote to prohibition to changes in education, such as the Butler Act, which created unease and animosity throughout the country. The Butler Act of 1925 prohibited the teaching of evolution and any other theories that deny the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the Bible in all Universities and public schools in Tennessee. John Scopes, a high-school biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee decided to test this law. He was found guilty of teaching evolution to his high-school

In an instant life was created. But the type of life that was created differs depending on who is asked. Scientists would claim that single-celled organisms were the first to be created, and only by evolution and survival of the fittest did humans come to be. Religious people would refute that claim and state that humans were created in the image and likeness of god and all other animals came separately and not by chance. This argument has plagued the world since Charles Darwin released his theory in 1859. It came to a point in Dayton, Tennessee with the Scopes Trial, also known as the “Monkey Trial”. This eleven-day trial pitted faith against reason and left a legacy of conflict in schoolrooms and legislature across America.

On March 13, 1925 the state of Tennessee passed the Butler Act. This law prohibited teaching the Theory of Evolution in Tennessee public schools. Any teacher who taught a theory that denied the story of the Divine Creation would be punished by a fine. The American Civil Liberties Union offered legal defense to any Tennessee teacher who would break the law and fight it in court. John Thomas Scopes was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, and he intentionally taught his class about the theory of evolution, which led to his arrest and trial.

The 1920’s was a time of prosperity and change in the United States, but with change comes disagreements. One of the largest debates during this time period, and still today, was the debate between science and religion. Many people were Christians in America during this time and they believed that the story of how God created the Earth should be taught in public schools. These people were called “fundamentalists.” They believed nothing could compare to or be as powerful as God’s word. The other side to this debate were the Modernists, or the ones who believed in science rather than religion. Modernists wanted to teach the theory of evolution in public schools instead of the Creation story the Fundamentalists believed in (“United States in History”). All of these different opinions led to one of the most famous trials known as the Scopes v. State of Tennessee trial. John Scopes was a substitute teacher in Tennessee who decided to teach the theory of evolution to a science class. Scopes was accused of violating the Butler Act, which states that teaching anything that

The Scopes Trial is a standout amongst the most well-known trials in American history. The trial was a lawful case in 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John Scopes, was charged with violating Tennessee 's Butler Act, which made it illegal to teach Darwinism in any state-financed school. This trial was a gathering between various polar opposites, for example, Fundamentalism and Modernism. The clash between fundamentalism and modernism during the Scopes Trial had a significant impact on the American education system.

In the “Monkey Trial” William Jennings Bryan spoke as the leader of the Christian fundamentalist, what him and his followers wanted to do was for the people and court to find out how unfair it was for something that they perceived as “materialistic and anti-religious be taught in the very same classrooms from which all religious instruction had been banned” (Thomas, 2009 p. 25). This situation created a lot of debates among the people. Many things changed in the American public schools that arise because of the evolution theory and religion.

1. Great Migration The Great Migration is when African Americans moved from the rural South to the cities up in the North, Midwest and West. The event was important because it began to build a new public life for African Americans which leads to creating a new black urban culture that would influence the United States later on. 2.

Starting with the Scopes Trial, many more cases have occurred concerning the teaching of evolution. “By 1928 every southern state except Virginia had debated or was considering legislation banning the teaching of evolution in the

Dayton, Tennessee was the location of which John Thomas Scopes was charged with a crime. The crime charged against Mr. Scopes was that he was teaching evolution. The law in Tennessee states that the misdemeanor is punishable and the law states “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead of that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” Scopes asked for the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union to assist him in his trial. When William Jennings Bryan heard of the attack on Christian fundamentalism went to assist the prosecution. Clarence Darrow an amazing attorney agreed to help the defense. The trial began on July 10, 1921 and within a few days many reporters

The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies “the timeless debate over science and religion.” (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive “the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.” (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from allover to witness

Stanley Kramer's film, Inherit the Wind, examines a trial based on the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee. Often referred to as "The Trial of the Century" (Scopes Trial Web Page), the Scopes trial illuminated the controversy between the Christian theory of creation and the more scientific theory of evolution. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was arrested for illegally teaching evolutionism to his class. "The meaning of the trial emerged because it was seen as a conflict of social and intellectual values" (Scopes Trial Web Page). Kramer's film dramatizes this conflict between the Christian believers and the evolutionists in "Hillsboro, heavenly Hillsboro, the

The First Amendment states, in part: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" (U.S. Constitution amend. I) In 1968, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down several "anti-monkey laws" that were passed in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas in previous years, "because they established a religious doctrine violating both the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution", setting precedent for the rejection of creationist thought in place of science (Epperson v. Arkansas, 1968, Edwards v. Aguillard, 1987). Due to governmental funding, public schools teaching creationism would be viewed as advancing one religion over another and violate the separation of church and state. The filing of several amicus briefs by 17 state academies of science and 72 Noble Prize-winning scientists purporting that creationism is comprised of religious tenets in the case of Edwards v. Aguillard only added to the sentiment that intelligent design is for the home, not the school (Edwards,

In the Western tradition, primarily in the United States where Christianity prevails, the story of creation from Genesis is held in high regard, and controversies have erupted disputing whether or not its fundamentals should be taught in school. The founding of this nation through the Constitution was erected with the belief of "separation of church and state." In the conservative 1920s, a huge court case erupted from the dispute between the Christian "creationism" and the scientific founding of Charles Darwin's evolution. The "Scopes Monkey trial" of 1925 saw a schoolteacher found guilty of teaching evolution in the classroom, a theory that flabbergasted fundamentalist Christians who perceived it ludicrous that humans could have descended from "monkeys." The narrative tradition of the Genesis creation was evidently a central issue for Americans and typified the Christian identity in the U.S. at a time when modernism was emerging, as the fourteen states had anti-Evolution statutes.