The case was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, which began looking for a teacher to challenge the law shortly after it was passed in March Residents of Dayton persuaded Mr.
Scopes, who was 24, to participate as a test defendant, because he was a local physics and algebra teacher who, while filling in for a biology teacher, was said to have assigned reading that mentioned evolution.
He asked his students to testify against him before the grand jury in Nashville, about miles west of Dayton, to ensure the case would go to trial. The indictment cleared the way for one of the most famous trials in American history. The case attracted William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate and Christian speaker, to lead the prosecution, and Clarence Darrow, a famed defense lawyer and self-proclaimed agnostic, to head the defense.
At the trial, which began in July, Mr. Darrow and the defense made no attempt to maintain Mr. The most famous scene in the trial occurred on its seventh day, when Mr. Darrow called Mr. Bryan to the stand to discuss his interpretation of the Bible and whether its account of creation should be taken literally.
Bryan eventually admitted that the Bible should not always be taken literally, and the press portrayed the encounter as a victory for Mr. Both Mr.
Darrow and Mr. Bryan hoped to continue their exchange — Mr. Bryan hoped to put Mr. Darrow on the stand — the next day, but the judge ordered that it be ended and stricken from the records. Darrow responded by asking the jury to find Mr. Scopes guilty so that the case could be appealed to a higher court. In , the U. Supreme Court found a similar law in Arkansas to be a violation of the First Amendment. In this photo, evangelist T.
Martin's books against the theory of evolution are sold in Dayton, Tennessee, at the Scopes trial. AP Photo, used with permission from the Associated Press. Mencken applied to the prosecution of a criminal action brought by the state of Tennessee against high school teacher John T. In the case Scopes v. The case arose when, seeking to test the constitutional validity of the Butler Act, the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU placed advertisements in Tennessee newspapers offering to pay the expenses of any teacher willing to challenge the law.
George W. Scopes also taught math and general science, and, on occasion, substituted for the principal in biology. Henry Louis Mencken The trial featured a number of strategic twists and turns. Presiding Judge John T. Raulston quoted Genesis and quarreled with Darrow on several occasions. He insisted that the jury judge the case, not on the issues regarding evolution vs.
Scopes never actually appeared for questioning, since he was not even sure he had taught the chapter in question and the defense did not want him grilled on it. The defense argued that the Bible dealt with matters of religion and science with matters of facts and the two should not be mixed.
Many people believe the same thing today, presupposing the Bible is not inerrant or divinely inspired, but full of human error and unreliable for history or science. Soaring temperatures in the courtroom forced some proceedings to be moved outside such as the July 20 session seen above where William Jennings Bryan seated, left is being questioned by Clarence Darrow right. As for the issues between the Biblical account of origins and evolutionary theory, the reporters turned Bryan into a monumental figure of ridicule and ignorance he died five days later , and conservative Christians into backward rubes unfit for the intellectual challenges of the 20 th century.
The Legend of the Scopes Trial. Scientific American. The Scopes Trial. University of Minnesota. State of Tennessee v. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
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