In the summer of 1925, the quaint little town of Dayton, Tennessee would become the stage for the event that would soon become known as 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
March 13, 1925 an act was passed by the state of Tennessee stating, “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.” This act written by Rep. John Washington Butler, calling for a
historically was cause by a violation of the Butler Act. The movie simply portrays this law as a statute passed by the state of Tennessee that prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. In reality, the Butler Act only made it illegal to teach that humans evolved. During 1925 in the state of Tennesse, one could teach that all species evolved except humans and not have violated the Butler Act. The film also demonstrates that the Butler Act favored fundamentalist Christianity over science
history” (Ronald L. Numbers, 1998, p. 76). A large factor in why the Scopes trial has received so much attention in an insignificant town is because of the stage that the trial was played out on. To begin with, The Butler Act made the Scopes trial all possible. To state it simply, The Butler Act prohibited public schools in Tennessee from teaching Evolution, or to falsify the Biblical story of Creationism. The Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill making it unlawful for state-supported schools
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 Darwin Theory of Evolution in a science-related course. The American Civil Liberties Union created a plan to find a teacher willing to teach evolution in order to test the Butler Act, which forbade the essence that anyone teaching any theory that shunned the Biblical story of creationism. Scopes agreed to
first occurrence of a teacher teaching evolution in their classroom. “The John Thomas Scopes trial checked the influence of Fundamentalism in Public Education ( John.)” The trial started because John Scopes broke the Butler law. “In 1925, the Tennessee legislature passed the Butler law which forbade the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in any public school or university(The Monkey
Creation states that the universe was created in seven days by God and that animals have not evolved since. One can see clear differences between these two theories. The history of the Scopes trial begins in Tennessee with the Butler Act, which passed on March 13, 1925. The Butler Act stated that “it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other pub... ... middle of paper ... .... 16 May 2007 American Civil Liberties Union. 2007. Wikipedia. 16 May 2007 “Scopes
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 law and gained the attention of the National media. The concentration of the
the "new" generations. The 1920's were no exception. In Dayton, Tennessee, 1925, a high school biology teacher was arrested. He was arrested because he taught the theory of evolution. 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
defendant. But this was not a trial to see what punishment he would receive. This trial pitted Protestant fundamentalists against the American Civil Liberties Union. In the end, although Scopes was convicted, many saw the victory go to the ACLU. The Butler Act in Tennessee forbade the teaching of human evolution as written by Charles Darwin. In its place, teachers were to only teach the story of Creation as found in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. This, and thirty-six similar laws, was seen as
Cultural Confrontations of the 1920’s The 1920s were a time of change for the United States. Following the First World War there was a rush of new cultural, social, and artistic dynamism, partly fuelled by the Progressivism movement that was cut short when American entered the Great War. This decade was defined by a change from more rural farm life to industrialism in big cities. The shift from the frugality and traditional family values or previous generations to the happy-go-lucky consumerism
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. This act prohibited the teaching of “any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the bible,” and in particular, the theory of evolution. the American civil liberties union petitioned for a teacher to challenge this statute;
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 science
different instances are being compared, both show how Drummond or Darrow were bright enough to get themselves out of difficult situations. Yet while both men overcame their obstacles, both of them let their achievements build their ego, causing them to act out on
Ever since science began to explain 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
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
The constitution is a set of laws set by the government to protect the nation’s rights. One of those rights is the First Amendment which discusses the prohibition of an established religion and allows the free exercise of religion. Thomas Jefferson had written a letter discussing the separation of church and state, which has resulted in many debates over the limitations of religion in the public schools (Hamburger). There is research that supports both the arguments that students can benefit academically
Inherit the Wind: Religion vs. Science Stanley Kramer's film, Inherit the Wind, examines a trial based on the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee. Often referred to as "The Trial of the Century" (Scopes Trial Web Page), the Scopes trial illuminated the controversy between the Christian theory of creation and the more scientific theory of evolution. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was arrested for illegally teaching evolutionism to his class. "The meaning of the trial emerged
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society. Probibition during the 1920s is one of the many examples of dichomoty. During Prohibition, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages was restricted
The setting of the Scopes Trial and Inherit the Wind have both similarities and differences. The Scopes Trial took place in Dayton, Tennessee (“Tennessee vs. John Scopes,” 1925). Dayton is a town that normally wouldn’t have been found on a typical map. It is small, quiet, and would be considered insignificant if not for the historical event that took place there in the summer of 1925: the Monkey Trial. Likewise, the setting of Inherit the Wind features a sleepy town in the middle of summer that