The Scopes Monkey Trial

The two-hour special documentary, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, features the Kitzmiller v. Dover School District case in 2004. It captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover, Pennsylvania in one of the latest battles over teaching evolution in public schools. Some members of the community believed that not only Darwinism, but also a so called theory, Intelligent Design, should be taught in their public high school. It was a battle between the two theories. It forced neighbor against neighbor and friend against friend. The community itself was broken half and half on the controversial issue.

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

Through the 1920s, conflicts regarding the teachings of religious values versus Evolution, along with the increasing fight for women’s independence, caused a great deal of tension within America. Prior to the ‘20s schools taught the Bible and Christianity’s principles were stressed. It was in 1925 when Clarence Darrow defended John Scopes, a biology teacher, who was put on trial in the court for teaching the theory of Evolution (Doc C). This document illustrates the dialogue of

In an instant life was created. But the type of life that was created differs depending on who is asked. Scientists would claim that single-celled organisms were the first to be created, and only by evolution and survival of the fittest did humans come to be. Religious people would refute that claim and state that humans were created in the image and likeness of god and all other animals came separately and not by chance. This argument has plagued the world since Charles Darwin released his theory in 1859. It came to a point in Dayton, Tennessee with the Scopes Trial, also known as the “Monkey Trial”. This eleven-day trial pitted faith against reason and left a legacy of conflict in schoolrooms and legislature across America.

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.

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 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 Big Boys Newspaper was historically accurate in that the newspapers date was 1929 and all the facts were correct. The newspaper felt more professional than most of the other newspapers I reviewed and it felt like it was something that the New York Times might release. It was easy to follow their train of thought and understand. The only issue I have with their newspaper is their font seemed to change a couple of times. They educated me on the topics of the Teapot Dome Scandal and the Scopes Monkey trial. The Teapot Dome Scandal was caused because of a lack of regulation in the United States Government. Albert Bacon Fall had secretly granted the rights of the federal oil reserve to Harry Sinclair who was in charge of the Mammoth Oil

Facts: The parties in this case are the appellant, Susan Epperson an Arkansas public high school teacher, and the State of Arkansas. Ms. Epperson brought legal action against the State of Arkansas in order to challenge the Constitutional legitimacy of the State’s “Anti-evolution” law. The “Anti-evolution” law made it illegal for any teacher in a state supported school to teach evolution or to use a book, which included the theory. Ms. Epperson believed the State’s prohibition of teaching evolution violated her Constitutional rights and thus initiated legal action in the courts.

The Scopes Trial Project... Evolution vs. Creationism John Scopes: He was a teacher in Tennessee who went on trial for teaching evolution in his classroom. This is a big deal because at this time the were many religious people. He saw this case as a chance to stand up for academic freedom. After days on the trial, the jury only took a few minutes to decide that Scopes was guilty. Later on, he conviction was overturned.

On April 7, 2017, a colloquium was given by Dr. Ted Davis from Messiah College. It covered the controversy surrounding religion and science during the 1920s. At the beginning of his presentation, he presented and handed out some interesting primary sources. These primary sources were pamphlets commonly used in the 1920s to promote scientific reasoning (mainly evolution) and were written by some influential scholars and preachers of the time. He briefly discussed the Scopes Trial, which is probably the most famous example of science vs religion here in the US, and used it as a jumping off point for the history leading up to this trial. From here he began to discuss how World War I had put a negative connotation on evolution due to the social

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

The Arkansas trial raised discussions about the demarcation of science from nonscience. Towards the end of the trial Judge Overton justified his decision by providing five criteria, which stated the definition of science. Discussions arose which argued for and against these criterias. One of the philosophers that claimed that creation science was indeed science was Larry Laudan. Laudan expressed his disappointment towards the decision of the trial, and stated that the trial failed to recognise the falsifiable theories that creationists made. Gilkey and Ruse were a couple of the philosophers however, that agreed with the decision arguing that creation science failed to comply with the standards of science especially through its conclusion of an unexplainable divine creator. In this essay, I will discuss the arguments that aid the demarcation of science from nonscience, and ultimately conclude with an

In the centuries leading up to the “Jazz and the Machine Age”, the nineteen-twenties was in a major dispute over religious beliefs between the traditionalist and the modernists. In 1925, a trial was held that was known as the Scopes trial. John scopes, a high school teacher, taught the theory of evolution in a Tennessee public high school. At the time, Tennessee had a state law they made it illegal to teach evolution in schools. The modernists had believed that the teachings of evolution gave the public another perspective through science but not religion. The traditionalist however, feared that the teaching of the Bible would be lost along with religious morals if Scope had won the trial. Traditionalist had

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.