Scopes Monkey Trial

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.

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

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.

State of Tennessee trial is part of what made the Roaring Twenties “roar.” Because the trial made national news, many reporters and journalists wanted to come to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee (“United States in History”). This migration caused the town to get major publicity, as well as the issue itself did. By having one person speak out and do what they believe is right like John Scopes did, many more people felt comfortable speaking out for what their own beliefs and opinions were. Scopes v. State of Tennessee was only the start of a series of court cases regarding whether to teach the theory of evolution or the Creation story from the Bible (“State of Tennessee v. Scopes.”). The Roaring Twenties was definitely a time of change for most Americans, and the Scopes v. State of Tennessee trial helped convey this message to Americans wishing to express free

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

“A man is on trial! A man who wishes to think!” In a small town drenched in summer heat, a young man named Bert Cates is put on trial for questioning the bible's teachings, and introducing the school children to Darwinism. Though the genesis of this play is the 1925 monkey trial, the setting is classified as not too long ago. This being because the right to think is always on trial in one way or another. The right to think is important because it allows society to prosper, sciences and philosophies to expand, and supports diversity of opinions .

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

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

Two decades after Darwin's Origin of Species was published many religious leaders feared that a less-than-literal reading of the biblical story would result in a loss of faith; and well-known spokesmen for the cause-such as William Jennings Bryan- of moral decay to be evidence of the damage brought about by the teaching of the godless evolution. The issue was argued on a number of platforms, one of the most famous being the Scopes Trial (1925), in which a high school

Have you ever wondered where new animals and plants come from? Have you ever asked why does one animal look like another but there are not called the same? Or even why do some animals have the same name but do not look the same? Well, I have wondered such things and Charles Darwin’s Theory has explained and answered many of them. However, If I were never taught these theories, I would still have no clue. In 1925, John Thomas Scopes, was convicted for teaching evolution in a public school while the Anti-Evolution Rule was in full effect. He and his defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, fought against your prosecuting attorney, William J. Bryan, to be able to teach evolution in school. I would like to appeal the decision that Evolution should not

Throughout American history there have been many topics of controversial debate. One such topic began in 1925 in a small tennessee town, with a court trial known as the Scopes Trial. The Scopes Trial was a case involving a farmer sueing against a teacher who was teaching evolution in a school. At the time evolution was illegal to teach in educational curriculum and it was condemned heavily by a majority of the population. For this reason the trial and its ruling brought with it a lot of press. By the end of the trial the side of evolution had lost completely and the state continued to protect creationism in schools. Additionally anti-evolution movements vigorously began popping up around the country fueled by many

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.