William Jennings Bryan's Influence On The United States

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.

Comparing and Contrasting the Careers, Views and Accomplishments of William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson

Two important movements during the mid-1800s were the Temperance Movement and the Women’s Rights Movement. The Temperance movement wanted the immoral behaviors of those who used Alcohol to end. In fact, non-religious groups, especially the Factory owners, saw it as a way to increase productivity and reduce crime, as they associated drunkenness and crime with the lower classes. In order to do so, it wanted to persuade alcoholics to total abstinence form drinking. It was successful in influencing Maine to prohibit the manufacturing or sale of alcoholic beverages. The Women’s Rights Movement gained extra popularity during this time period because of the desire of the influential women to be treated equally. After the Lowell system showed women could be employed and economically support themselves, the women wanted to have more equal and fair representation in their government. For this reason, leaders, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, organized the Seneca Falls Convention where they outlined why and how society and the government should accept women as equal to

They resisted the increasing flood of immigration and changing role of Christianity in society by appealing to middle and lower class native-born Americans. Mary Mullet’s admiration of Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly from New York City to Paris,, also represents the classic American values still fighting for support: “he was…clean in character…strong and fine in body…modest…courageous; …these are the things which we honor most in life” (Doc F). In addition to these values, Prohibition promoted Christian values as alcohol was attacked. Finally, one of the most basic aspects of Christianity, the creation of Earth, faced opposition in 1925 when Tennessee teacher John Scopes went to court for teaching evolution. Though he was found guilty for breaking the law banning evolution in schools, ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow dealt a blow to a religion already being questions while interviewing a persecuter: “I am examining you on your fool ideas that no intelligent Christian on Earth believes” (Doc C). The Scopes trial embodied the struggle between the old ways and new ideas throughout the 1920s.

First, he pushed for the Thirteenth Amendment, which actually ended slavery in the United States, and perhaps more importantly, he continued the war to its conclusion and demanded that the end of slavery and the return of the southern states to the Union be conditions for

Darrow, an atheistic man, believed that science should rule America and didn’t like that people who weren’t scientists were trying to control science and dictate what could and could not be done. His former friend, and opponent, on the side of religion was Bryan. Bryan believed that creation was the way humans came to be and was appalled by evolution and people’s desire to learn it. This conflict cut Americans to their souls and in July of 1925, it was given to the courts to decide once and for all which side was right, Darwin and his evolution, or the bible and creation. However, the courts could not decide which side was right, and instead stuck to its decision of whether or not Scopes broke the law, which he was indeed guilty of. This trial definitively proved that the tension between faith and reason might never be resolved by a jury’s verdict. The Scopes trial also galvanized fundamentalists and scientists alike, changed children’s education, and revealed a deep division within our nation. After Bryan’s wishes,

From the 1890s to the 1920s, many social and economic reform movements were taking place within American society, and this time period became known as the Progressive Era. People advocated for women’s suffrage, temperance, rights for African Americans, better working conditions in factories, and much more. One prominent figure from this time period is Carry A. Nation, a temperance activist. Nation would pray, sing hymns, throw bricks, and attack bars with hatchets. Her action resulted in her being jailed, written about, and led to her writing her own magazine. Carry A. Nation’s tactics of praying, singing hymns, and violent attacks were effective in the banning of alcohol, with the 18th Amendment, due to the publicity and fame she received.

Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767 in Waxhaw, a wooded frontier region in South Carolina. Growing up, Jackson never received any proper education. Jackson only received basic fundamentalist education until the age of 13. At the age of 13, Andrew Jackson became a messenger for the Patriot because of the American Revolutionary. In 1787, Andrew Jackson studied law at Salisbury. In the following year, he moved to Western District of North Carolina which is in Tennessee and became a prosecutor. Afterwards, he started gaining a fortune and later married Donelson Robards in 1791. On June 1796, he got elected to The House of Representative. The next year, Jackson resigned from the House of Representative and won the U.S senate. 1798, Jackson

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 was the leading proponent… for the income tax, the popular election of senators, prohibition… insured bank deposits, government owned railroads, publically financed campaigns, and a reliable method for preventing war.” (Kazin, Michael. Random House, Inc, 2006. Page 304) Thanks to Bryan’s legacy living beyond his years, most of the reforms he fought diligently for are still implemented currently. A majority of Bryan’s legislative policies such as income tax, insured bank deposits, and the popular election of senators have proved to be extremely beneficial reforms, but not every victory is now seen as such. Prohibition, for example, is still a very controversial issue and is often considered a failed move on the governments part. Though there are many health, religious, and economic advantages, prohibition during the 1920’s was also a leading cause of organized crime, black markets, and disruption of usual social practices. For every policy endorsed by William Jennings Bryan or any politician for that matter, there are always those who express a differing opinion. Bryan was a man who fought for a cause he truly believed in and I feel most of the political changes he endorsed created positive results for the country. In the case of prohibition, it may not have been extremely successful but the

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

Whether it was demonstrating to the nation that a large number of citizens supported the banning of alcohol; the passage legislation that created precedence and demonstrated the possibility of passing an amendment outside of war; or, ironically, a war that made drinking seem unpatriotic; these all changed Americans’ attitudes towards Prohibition in some way. This was essential to the Prohibition cause because without these events, support for an amendment banning alcohol would not have been nearly as high, and Prohibition may never have been

John C. Calhoun was born in Abbeville, South Carolina on March 18, 1782. When he was 17 he dropped out of high school and worked on the family farm to help his parents. In 1804 he finished his studies and obtained a degree from Yale University. After he got his degree, he started studying law at Tapping Reeve Law School and was admitted into the South Carolina bar in1807, later abandoning his practice, when he got married to his cousin, Floride Calhoun, to become a planter- statesman. In 1808, Calhoun was elected to be South Carolina’s state legislature, only staying in this position for a year. In 1812, Calhoun introduced the declaration of war against Britain. From 1817 to 1825, Calhoun served as the Secretary of War under President James Monroe.

With much pressure from groups such as the, 'Anti Saloon League,' and the 'Women's Christian's Temperance Union. These two groups both helped convince congress to pass the 18th amendment, prohibition. For a

Clark writes of all these different groups that all had an effect towards the outlawing of the saloons. For example “in the 1880’s the WCTU began a campaigning for state laws which would make scientific temperance instruction mandatory in the public schools.” Clark brings to mind many of these groups who many did not know were political forces leading to the passage of the 18th amendment.