The Scopes Monkey Trial
By: Corie Stretton
Background
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Fundamentalist Movement

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Butler Act (1925)


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People wanting to return to life before WWI
Find comfort and stability in religion
“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.”
Ruled unconstitutional in 1967, goes against
the Establishment Clause
John Scopes


High school science teacher in Tennessee
Taught theory of evolution in his classroom,
despite the Butler Act
Attorneys
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Prosecution- William Jennings
Bryan
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Leader of the Fundamentalist
movement
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Baptist

Defense- Clarence Darrow

Widely respected lawyer
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Atheist
Courtroom Proceedings
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
Prayer before the trial
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Darrow objects because the
basis of the trial is on the
“conflict of science and
religion”
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Judge overrules him and
continues with the prary
“Read Your Bible” sign in
courtroom

Darrow objects because of its
influence on the jury
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Judge agrees and orders it be
taken down
Bryan Called to the Stands
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Darrow calls Bryan to the
stands as an expert on the Bible

Questions about the extent to
which the Bible can be taken
literally

Bryan lost all credibility as a
source


“I do not think about things I
don’t think about.”
“I do not think they were
twenty-four hour days…My
impression is that they were
periods.”
Arguments for the
Prosecution

“Your honor has already held that this act is constitutional, it being
the law of the land, there is but one issue before this court and jury,
and that is, did the defendant violate the statute. That statute
interprets itself, and says that whenever a man teaches that man
descended from a lower order of animals as contradistinguished
from the record of the creation of man as given by the word of God,
that he is guilty. Does the proof show that he did that, that is the
only issue, if it please the honorable court, before this jury.”
-Benjamin D. McKenzie, Day 4 of the trial
Arguments for the Defense

“If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to
teach it in the public school, tomorrow you can make it a crime to
teach it in the private schools…Soon you may set Catholic against
Protestant and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your
own religion upon the minds of men…After while, your honor, it is
the setting of man against man and creed against creed until with
flying banners and beating drums we are marching backward to the
glorious ages of the sixteenth century when bigots lighted fagots to
burn the men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment
and culture to the human mind.”
- Clarence Darrow, Day 2 of the trial
Media Representation
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H.L. Mencken
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Popular reporter for The
Baltimore Sun
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Wrote about the case in favor of
the defense
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Called the prosecution team
“buffoons” and “morons”
Political cartoons
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Represent both sides of the case
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Large influence over people’s
opinions
Political Cartoons
Political Cartoons
Verdict
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Scopes found guilty of violating the
Butler Act
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Fined $100
Later appealed to the Supreme Court
“Your honor, I feel that I have been
convicted of violating an unjust
statute. I will continue in the future,
as I have in the past, to oppose this
law in any way I can. Any other
action would be in violation of my
ideal of academic freedom-that is, to
teach the truth as guaranteed in our
constitution of personal and religious
freedom. I think the fine is unjust.”
- John T. Scopes
Summary
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John Scopes arrested for teaching the theory of evolution in his
classroom
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Prosecution/Bryan focus on breaking the actual law
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Defense/Darrow focus on the effect restricting science education
has upon society
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Media had incredible influence on how the issue was viewed by the
public
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Still an issue to this day
References
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Bryan and Darrow at Dayton : the record and documents of the "Bible-Evolution Trial". New
York, [c1925]. The Making of Modern Law. Gale. 2008. Gale, Cengage Learning. 2 November 2008
<http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/MOML?af=RN&ae= F152489758&srchtp=a&ste=14>.

"Bryan's Last Speech." American Experience: Monkey Trial, Primary Sources. 2002. PBS: Public
Broadcasting Service. 1 Nov. 2008
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/monkeytrial/filmmore/ps_bryan.html>.

De Camp, L. Sprague. The Great Monkey Trial. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1968.

"Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)." American Experience: Monkey Trial, People & Events.
2002. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. 1 Nov. 2008
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/monkeytrial/peopleevents/p_mencken.html>.

Herndon, Peter N. "The Constitution, Censorship, and the Schools: Tennessee v. John Thomas
Scopes." The Constitution, Censorship, and the Schools. 1997. Yale-New Haven Teachers
Institute. 10 Nov. 2008 <http://www.yale.org/ynhti/pubs/a5/herndon.html>.

Levy, Leonard W. Constitutional Problems in Church-State Relations. New York: Da Capo P,
Inc., 1966.
References (cont’d)

Linder, Douglas O. "State v. John Scopes ("The Monkey Trial")." An Introduction to
the John Scopes (Monkey) Trial. UMKC School of Law. 1 Nov. 2008
<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/evolut.htm>.

Mencken, H.L. "Tennessee in the Frying Pan." The Scopes Trial. 20 July 1925.
Positive Atheism. 2 Nov. 2008
<http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/menck04.htm#scopes9>.

Moore, Randy. The Lingering Impact of the Scopes Trial on High School Biology
Textbooks. BioScience, Vol. 51, No. 9. American Institute of Biological Sciences.
Sept. 2001 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1314030>.

“State v. Scopes: Trial Excerpts.” State v. Scopes- UMKC Law School Famous Trials
Series. 1925. UMKC School of Law. 10 Nov. 2008
<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes2.htm>.

"Tennessee Evolution Statutes." Tennessee Anti-Evolution Statute. 1925. UMKC
School of Law. 10 Nov. 2008
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/tennstat.htm.