The Scopes Monkey Trial In a tiny courtroom in the county of Dayton Tennessee, the jury settled into their seats, ready to return the verdict in the most controversial case of the 1920’s, the scopes “monkey” trial. Up to this point, the trial itself had been a media spectacle; the lawyers, the witnesses, even the defendant had become media icons in the commercialism of the twenties. The trial itself was set up to be a media demonstration to challenge the constitutionality of the butler act
I think the Scopes trial brought together a great cast of characters: three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan; America's best defense attorney, Clarence Darrow: and its most popular journalist, H. L. Mencken. It was a trial about ideas, a contest between traditionalism, the faith of our fathers, and modernism, the idea that we test faith with our intellect. And it had what the New York Times called the most memorable event in Anglo-Saxon court history: Darrow's calling of William
overshadowed the losses of the Great War. There were flappers, Prohibition; and widespread popularity of Jazz music. Apart from this culture, the Scopes Monkey Trial would become a widespread controversy between traditionalism and modernity. Traditionalists would have a more conservative view, while the Modernists would have a more liberal behavior. John Scopes, a substitute biology teacher was arrested and charged with violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee law which prohibited teachers from teaching
the previously unexplainable, it has caused conflicts with religion. The Scopes “Monkey” Trial of Dayton, Tennessee was one of the most talked about trials in history because it was one of the first and most publicized times that this conflict occurred. The trial showed the schism between the faithful fundamentalists and the newly formed group of evolutionists. Although the jury was reminded that they only had to decide if Scopes had broken the law, the verdict was seen as much more than that. For one
Media's Impact on the Scopes Monkey Trial The 1920’s were a period of transition for America. The culture of society was quickly adapting to many new ideas and beliefs. Traditional schools of thought were gradually being replaced with new technology and knowledge. The changes taking place were the source of much conflict, as many historical events of the twenties can illustrate. One such event is the Scopes “Monkey” Trial. From our research we discovered that the trial pitted Modernists against
the “trial of the century” (Moran 2). What began as a test case to challenge the recently passed Butler Bill by the Tennessean legislature would quickly become about so much more than anyone would have imagined, especially high school biology teacher John Thomas Scopes. Religion versus science, Bryan versus Darrow, modernism versus fundamentalism, the Jazz Age, culture, urbanism, regionalism; all of the conflicts and issues present during this time would each have a major impact on The Scopes “Monkey”
The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee vs. Scopes but given the nickname “The Monkey Trial”, has been credited as starting the popular legal dispute between evolution and creationism in the court, and its impact in the 20’s was immeasurable. The interpretation of the case is just as popular, if not more, than the actual result of the case. The worldwide attention and media coverage the case received produced many opinions. Scholar’s opinions range from describing the case as
The Scopes Monkey Trial (otherwise known as the Scopes Trial, Monkey Trial, and the Scopes Evolution Trial [www.historynet.com]), was the trial of The State Of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes on the basis that John Scopes had defied the Butler Act. The Butler Act, which was passed on March 13, 1925, was “an act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all universities, normals, and public schools in Tennessee...” (www.tennessee.gov). This trial, held on July 10, 1925, was the people’s
in The Scopes Monkey Trial The stage was set in Dayton, Tennessee. The leading actor in this show was a twenty five-year-old science teacher named John T. Scopes. Scopes was under the direction of advancing America. The playbill read The Scopes “Monkey” Trial. In 1925 John T. Scopes was encouraged to challenge the Butler Law. This law had been passed by a small town in Dayton, Tennessee to prohibit teaching contra to those in the Bible. Teaching from an evolutionary text, Scopes broke the
would be willing to stand trial for having taught evolution in a public school so that a test case could be mounted to challenge the constitutional validity of the Act. Encouraged by George Rappelyea, (a mining engineer who managed six local coal and iron mines owned by the Cumberland Coal Company), a group of leading citizens in the small town of Dayton* - the "drug store conspirators" - decided to accept the ACLU's offer, in the hope that the publicity surrounding the trial would help to reverse the
The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, more commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, is arguably one of the most notable trials in U.S history because it had such a significant impact on American culture. The origins of the trial sparked when Scopes violated the Tennessee’s Butler Act by teaching evolution in a school, leading to his first trial in Dayton, Tennessee, attracting a lot of press coverage and the attention of the famous Clarence Darrow, who would later become the defendant
contradicted the Christian theory of Divine Creation as described in the Bible. This caused many religious fundamentalists to fight against it. They took their battle to the law books, and they were challenged by pro-evolution modernists in the Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925. The theory of Evolution was developed by Charles Darwin throughout his life and published in 1859 in a book called "The Origin of Species." In brief, it states that all living things on earth evolved over time and that natural selection
Inherit the Wind, based on the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” in the small town Dayton, Tennessee, was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. The play was not intended to depict the actual history or the proceedings in the Scopes’ trial but it was used as a vehicle for exploring social anxiety and ant-intellectualism that existed in the Americas during the1950s. Lawrence and Lee wrote the play as a response to the threat to intellectual freedom presented by the anti-Communist hysteria of the
citizens. Inherit the Wind, by Robert Edwin Lee, fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” trial, as a means to discuss the then-contemporary McCarthy trials. This can be seen as the concepts of intellectualism and oppression can be witnessed in both trials. In the Scopes “Monkey” trial, ideas are being oppressed through ignorance towards evolution. In connection with this, people were being persecuted during the McCarthy trials because they had contradicting political views. As a result of this connection
The teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of having violated the Butler Act. This was a Tennessee law that forbade the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools. The Tennessee legislature felt that teaching evolution was wrong because it contradicted the creation theory of the Bible. The Scopes trial received worldwide publicity. The press nicknamed it the Monkey Trial because, people believed that the theory of evolution meant that humans were descended from monkeys. Clarence Darrow was
The Scopes Trial, which was also known as ‘The Monkey Trial’ or The State of Tennessee vs. Scopes, was a very popular legal dispute in court that was between the theory of evolution and creationism, and played a major role which shaped the 1920’s. What was just as popular was the interpretation of the case, if not more than the actual result of the dispute. This case received world-wide attention and the media coverage produced many different opinions world-wide. A major factor of why the Scopes trial
when he made the history of John Scopes and his “monkey trial” into a film called Inherit the Wind. Kramer knew the exact stereotypical “Hollywood history” his audience enjoyed. The trial itself had a series of conflicts, the main one being evolution vs. religion. Yet there was also a series of tensions throughout the movie, including the argument between individual vs. society. The same themes from Inherit the Wind can also be seen from the actual “monkey trial” event in Dayton, Tennessee. It is
Scopes Trial In the 1920’s everyone thought that teaching evolution was forbidden and that it was against the church. Evolution was a tricking topic to discuss especially in the 1920’s because a lot of people thought that when someone said evolution it was automatically connected to the Bible. Evolution can be very controversial because many people, especially in the 1920’s had very different views on evolution and what is was. In the 1920’s many people thought evolution was something you would
Zondervan, 1982. Bowdem, Matt C., The rise of the evolution fraud : and exposure of its roots. 1st ed. San Diego : Creation – Life Publishers, 1982. Allen, Leslie H., Bryan and Darrow at Dayton; the record and documents of the "Bible-evolution trial,". 2nd ed. New York: Russell & Russell, 1967. Spanner, Derek C., Biblical creation and the theory of evolution. 1st ed. Spanner. Exeter: Paternoster, 1987.
and Symbols: Inherit the Wind As probably the best courtroom dramas of the twentieth century, Inherit the Wind is based on the famous, Scopes Monkey Trial. The play was printed virtually thirty years afterward and takes original authority in varying the true-life elements of the court case. The central conflict of the play is based on the Scopes Monkey Trial itself. Several themes are presented throughout the play, for example when Brady argues for religious values while Drummond argues for natural