The Scopes Monkey Trial Summary

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If you had the decision to follow your personal beliefs or new societal ideas, what is the right action to take? This was the dire decision which John T. Scopes, an educator, was required to make. Ever since English naturalist Charles Darwin theorized evolution, conflicts arguing whether evolution or Creationism took place have been ubiquitous; However, the conflict raged during the trial of Scopes (Johnson). The Scopes “Monkey” Trials lasted from July 10 to the 21st, 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, (“Scopes Trial”). The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, agreed to pay for anyone to go against the Butler Act, which banned the teachings of evolution. Scopes agreed to do this, and was taken to court (Lyons). At the trial, prosecuting attorney …show more content…
First, The Butler Act was a statute passed by the Tennessee Legislature in March, 1925, which suggested that students who learn biology in public schools would lose their Christian faith (Lyons). This implies the idea that political leaders in Tennessee had sided with the theory of Christian Fundamentalism rather than the foreign ideas of Darwinism. This would make a noticeable bias against Darwinists and therefore would have kindled the anger which evolutionists used to create the tension in the Scopes case. Furthermore, Darrow and the ACLU General Council argued in court that the Butler Act was unconstitutional because it made a religious document such as the Bible involved with the public law (ACLU History). Darrow then goes on arguing that if the idea of evolution is going to be banned, that could lead to a chain of people losing their rights from reading scientific books and newspapers, which could lead to scientists being banned as well (Darrow). Knowing this, one can see that the creation of the Butler act started the conflict for Evolutionists who wished to bring Darwin’s teachings into the culture. However, because the Butler act kept evolutionists from teaching their ideas, educators of Darwinism would have felt the need to fight against the law. Lastly, William Jennings Bryan was popular for connecting Christianity into …show more content…
William Jennings Bryan’s religious influence on people was spreading culturally. By 1920, Bryan had attacked the idea of evolution, calling it “The most paralyzing influence with which civilization has had to contend with during the last century” (Linder). These attacks from “Great Commoner”, or Fundamentalists, became popular in the South, where Fundamentalism had been more concentrated (Linder). This depicts the bias that the Southerners had against Darwinism because of well known Creationism was. Most of the American South at the time were familiar with the belief in Creationism, so when they saw the conflicting idea of evolution, Creationists defended their belief. Furthermore, Darwinism is the theory of evolution of species made through natural selection. This idea was created by English naturalist Charles Darwin. His theories in evolution were controversial to many Christians in the 1920s as the idea of evolution excluded the idea of God completely (Linder). Darwin is the main contributor to the Scopes Trial, as it brings up the tension and bias between the cases of both Creationists and Darwinists. Without the cultural ideas of Darwinism where Christianity does not exist, the case would have never come up, people wouldn’t take strong sides, and a sense for need of a change by Darwinists would not
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