John T Scopes Essay

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

This uproar fuelled studying of ancient languages and the bible. What resulted was the new fact that the bible was written by many people, at many different times (Hab). These studies suggested that man, only to give himself a feeling of belongingness in the world created religion. This brought up major questions and many doubts in faith to Christians and the Jewish. As well as more legitimacy to the "Origin of Species" which proved scientifically many faults and untruths in the bible.

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.

To examine the history of a case that continues to affect students today, it is important to look at how the discrepancy began starting with Mary Beth, John, and Christopher. The tumultuous 60s can be described by Kelly Shackelford, a constitutional attorney,

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

In closing, Justice Abe Fortas and Justice Hugo Black both give valid testimony for their side of the argument; however, Fortas’ profusion of cited evidence outweighs Black’s mainly opinionated case. And even though this may seem like just another court case to be cited one day, it can go a long way in protecting students’

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.

The Scopes trial was a trial over a misdemeanor offense by substitute teacher John Scopes, but it ended up becoming an even huger trial between fundamentalist and modernist. Modernist and fundamentalist were fighting for control of America’s education system and the result of the trial would have a drastic effect on Tennessee’s education system. When the Butler Act was passed in 1925, the ACLU (American Citizens Liberties Union) sent a press discharge to a few Tennessee daily papers, publishing that they would give legitimate support, and so forth for a teacher in Tennessee who would be eager to stand trial for having taught Darwinism in a government funded school so an experiment could be mounted to test the established legitimacy of the Act. A gathering of citizens in the residential area of Dayton acknowledged ACLU 's offer, with the expectation that the exposure encompassing the trial would help to switch the town 's declining fortunes. The group

His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave And Conductor on the Underground Railroad.

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

Bryan traveled around the United States campaigning for laws that banned the teaching of evolution. One such law passed in Tennessee prohibited teachers in state supported schools and universities from teaching any theory of the origin of human life other than the creation story contained in the Bible. In 1925 John Thomas Scopes violated the law and was brought to trial. The trial quickly took on the air of a circus, with reporters and photographers from all over the world and the first live radio coverage of such an event broadcast by WGN in Chicago. The media cast the proceeding as a contest between science and the Bible. The defense tried to frame the issue as tolerance for new ideas. Ultimately,

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

In creationism, people known as the fundamentalists, like William Jennings Bryan, believed in the literal interpretation of the Bible, which was opposing to the idea of evolutionism. Through the Scope's Monkey Trial in 1925, Clarence Darrow, an evolutionist and the defender of John Scopes, who was arrested for teaching evolution, defended the case by concluding that not everything in the Bible could be interpreted literally. For example, the story of Jonah swallowed a whale, when interpreted literally, was clearly impossible because a human was not large enough to swallow a whale. With this argument, Darrow easily won the court trial against Bryan. (Document C).

My first impression of this article was that McCaffrey was bias on teaching controversial topics, he states that, “There have been numerous court cases since then, and efforts to teach “both sides” of evolution in public schools have been promoted”. Throughout the