
Tennessee vs. John Scopes:
The monkey trial
It was the year 1925 and in the town of Dayton, Tennessee a trial that would decide whether evolution could or could not be taught in schools was taking place. This trial was Tennessee vs. John Scopes and is commonly known as the monkey trial. This trial took place from July 10, 1925-July 25, 1925 (Douglas, On-line).
Tennessee passed an act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities and public schools of Tennessee on March 13, 1925. The act went as follows:
Section 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.
Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars nor more than Five Hundred Dollars for each offense. 
Section 3. Be it further enacted, that this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it. (Butler, On-line)
Many people read Inherit the Wind and think they know the story behind the monkey trial when all they really know about is a fictional trial that resembles the monkey trial. It all started when The American Civil Liberties Union advertised in newspapers to locate a teacher in Tennessee who would be willing to test the Butler Act in the courts. Of course, the ACLU would pay all expenses. Dayton resident, George Rappleyea, saw an ACLU advertisement in a Chattanooga newspaper and persuaded his friend John Scopes to accept the offer. The only catch was that Scopes was not a science teacher and had never actually taught evolution. Scopes was a math teacher and football coach who had filled in for the sick biology teacher for two weeks at the end of the school year. With Scopes' permission, Rappleyea immediately notified the ACLU that Professor J.T. Scopes, teacher of science Rhea County High School, will be arrested and charged with teaching evolution (Menton, On-line).
The Scopes trial began on July 10th, 1925 and lasted eight days. The trial became a major media event covered by over 200 newsmen. It was the first trial to be covered by a national radio broadcast, and the first to receive international coverage. Sixty telegraph operators sent daily reports over the newly laid transatlantic cable. Dayton became a spectacle as spectators, soap box orators, and vendors converged on the little town from all over America. Much of this attention resulted from the fact that two of America's most famous lawyers faced off on a deeply divisive religious and philosophical issue. How did humans come into being, and what control should parents have over how this subject is handled in our public schools (Menton, On-line).
The chief lawyer for the prosecution was William Jennings Bryan, a popular speaker who is widely regarded as one of America's greatest orators. Bryan was a leader in the Democratic Party for nearly 30 years, and served as Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson. Bryan was a conservative Christian who developed a strong interest in the creation-evolution controversy. He clearly favored creation, but was inquisitive enough about evolution to have read Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Bryan was knowledgeable enough of the scientific evidence to carry on a correspondence-debate with distinguished evolutionists of his day such as Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn. Bryan publicly declared that he did not oppose the teaching of evolution in the public schools as long as it was dealt with as a theory rather than a fact (Menton, On-line).
The chief lawyer for the defense, Clarence Darrow, was a well-known criminal lawyer who specialized in defending unpopular people and causes. Darrow was an outspoken ungodly man who was eager to discredit Biblical Christianity and promote evolutionism. Darrow made it clear in his autobiography, The Story of My Life, that his only purpose in participating in the Scopes trial was to make the country aware of evolutionary beliefs, and to publicly ridicule the beliefs and perceived intentions of fundamentalist Christians. Darrow could be very hostile in his treatment of the opposition and was cited for contempt of court during the Scopes trial for repeatedly interrupting and insulting Judge Raulston (The Scopes Monkey Trial-July 10-25, 1925, On-line).
The only question in the trial was whether or not John Scopes taught that man evolved from lower orders of animals. The defense mainly sought to promote evolutionism and discredit the Biblical account of creation. The question of Scopes' guilt or innocence was of no concern to his defense. In fact, the lawyers for the defense actually had to coach Scopes' students to claim they were taught evolution. To make evolution believable to the jury, the defense and its witnesses often equated evolution with the development of the embryo. Though irrelevant to the case, Darrow had gathered a large group of evolutionists to testify to the fact of evolution. The prosecution successfully demanded the right to cross-examine these expert witnesses. Darrow was so determined that his experts not be questioned on their evolutionary opinions, that he refused to call his witnesses to the stand (Menton, On-line).
In one of the most extraordinary events in the trial, the prosecuting attorney was actually put on the witness stand as an expert on the Bible. Ignoring the advice of his fellow counsel, Bryan agreed to be questioned by Darrow on his own Christian beliefs, with the understanding that he would then have the opportunity to question Darrow regarding his atheistic beliefs. After systematically ridiculing Bryan for his acceptance of the miracles and teachings of the Bible, Darrow asked the judge to instruct the jury to find his own client guilty as charged. This incredible surprise served to bring the trial to a speedy conclusion and kept Darrow from taking the witness stand to be questioned by Bryan. This ploy also prevented Bryan from giving his closing argument to a worldwide audience (The Scopes Monkey Trial-July 10-25, 1925, On-line).
In his closing argument, Bryan contrasted the revealed truth of God with the evolutionary speculations of men: Christianity welcomes truth from whatever source it comes, and is not afraid that any real truth from any source can interfere with the divine truth that comes from the inspiration of God... The evolutionist does not undertake to tell us how protozoa, moved by interior and resident forces, sent life up through all the various species, and cannot prove that there was actually any such compelling power at all. And yet, the school children are asked to accept their guesses and build a philosophy of life upon them (Douglas, On-line).
In conclusion, the town of Dayton, Tennessee, in the year 1925, saw a trial that would decide whether evolution could or could not be taught in schools was taking place. This trial was Tennessee vs. John Scopes and is commonly known as the monkey trial. This trial took place from July 10, 1925-July 25, 1925. The monkey trial was the subject of a play, Inherit the Wind.
<br><br><b>Bibliography</b><br><br>
Linder, Douglas. (1997). Tennessee vs. John Scopes The Monkey Trial [On-line]. Available WWW: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm
Menton, Dr. David N. (1994). Monkeying with the Scopes Monkey Trial [On-line]. Available WWW: http://www.associate.com/ministry_files/Other_Electronic_
Texts/Christian_Distribution_Network/17_The_Scopes_Monkey_Trial
No author. (No date). The Scopes Monkey Trial-July 10-25, 1925 [On-line]. Available WWW: http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/scopes.htm
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