The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes

July 10 to 21, 1925“The Monkey Trial”

Theory of Evolution

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, published in 1859

What is evolution?   Theory of evolution holds that inherited characteristics of a population change over generations and that as a result of these changes, new species sometimes arise

Fundamentalism

Literal interpretation of the Bible

Reaction against modernism

Fundamentalists wanted to prevent Evolution (Darwinism) from being taught in public schools

Tennessee & other states banned the teaching of evolution in public schools

The Butler ActSection 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.

American Civil Liberties UnionThe ACLU wanted to challenge Tennessee's law banning the teaching of evolution

American Civil Liberties Union

The ACLU's stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."

The People

Clarence Darrow William Jennings Bryan

John Scopes

A high school teacher in Dayton, Tennessee.

Taught math and biology.

Assistant football coach.

Volunteered to test the Butler Act.

William Jennings Bryan

3-time Democratic candidate for president

Populist

led a Fundamentalist crusade to banish Darwin's theory of evolution from American classrooms

Volunteered to help prosecute John Scopes

William Jennings Bryan

Clarence Darrow

America’s most famous defense attorney

Volunteered to defend Scopes pro bono

Agnostic

Specialized in defending the underdog

Was involved in several high-profile cases during his career

Clarence Darrow

Darrow’s opening arguments

Darrow questions Bryan

Expert Witnesses

George Rappleyea

Mining engineer from New York who saw the ACLU’s ad and convinced his friend John Scopes to challenge the law

Photo from left to right:John Scopes, John Neal, & George Rappleyea

H. L. Mencken

Baltimore journalist and author who covered the trial

Famous for his biting criticism of society

Fictional & Factual

Inherit the Wind Scopes Trial

Bert Cates

Henry Drummond

Matthew Harrison Brady

E. K. Hornbeck

John Scopes

Clarence Darrow

William Jennings Bryan

H. L. Mencken

The right of the majority in any state to control what

children are taught in school

vs. academic freedom for

teachers

Fundamentalist religion which views the Bible as a source of knowledge about nature

Vs.

Religious beliefs which find no conflict between scientific discovery and belief in God and the Bible

Reliance on tradition

Vs.

Willingness to accept the newest revelations of science

The interest of a majority in any state in preventing the public schools from being used to teach scientific theories that contradict its religious beliefs

Vs.

Separation of church and state

Populism

Vs.

Reliance on experts

Creationism

Vs.

The theory of evolution

Regionalism

Vs.

Nationalism