Scopes Trial

1925 American legal case

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The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was a landmark American legal case in July 1925 in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.

Background

The Butler Act was passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in March 1925. It prohibited public school teachers from denying the Biblical account of mankind's origin and from teaching instead that humans evolved from lower forms of life. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) offered to defend anyone accused of teaching the theory of evolution in defiance of the Butler Act. John T. Scopes, a high school science teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, agreed to be the defendant in a test case to challenge the constitutionality of the Butler Act.

The Trial

The trial began on July 10, 1925, and quickly became a national sensation. The prosecution was led by William Jennings Bryan, a three-time Democratic presidential candidate and a devout Christian. The defense was led by the famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow. The trial was presided over by Judge John T. Raulston.

The trial featured a clash between modernist and fundamentalist views on science and religion. Darrow called Bryan to the stand as an expert on the Bible, leading to a dramatic and widely publicized exchange on the interpretation of the Bible and the validity of evolutionary theory.

Verdict and Aftermath

On July 21, 1925, the jury found Scopes guilty, and he was fined $100. The verdict was later overturned on a technicality by the Tennessee Supreme Court, but the Butler Act remained in effect until it was repealed in 1967.

The Scopes Trial is considered a pivotal moment in the history of American education and the debate between science and religion. It highlighted the tension between traditional values and modern scientific thought, a theme that continues to resonate in contemporary discussions about education and public policy.

Related Pages

• John T. Scopes
• Butler Act
• Clarence Darrow
• William Jennings Bryan
• American Civil Liberties Union
• Evolution
• Creationism
• Education in the United States
• Tennessee Supreme Court