Agenda•Get into your groups. You have 20minutes

from the time class starts to finish up.

•Scopes Monkey Trial

The Scopes Monkey TrialEssential Questions:1. Who were John T. Scopes, William Jennings Bryan, and

Clarence Darrow and how do they relate to the Scopes Monkey Trial?

2. How was fundamentalism impacting the nation and the trial?

3. How did the trial end and how did it impact the nation?4. How did science and religion clash in the 1920s?

Science and Religion• Starting in 1920s a battled

raged between religious groups & secular thinkers over the truths of science

• Fundamentalism▫ Literal interpretation of

Bible▫ Skeptical of science▫ Argued all knowledge can

be found in the Bible▫ Bible was inspired by God

Stories were true in all details

• Rejected the theory of evolution advanced by Charles Darwin

Fundamentalism• Fundamentalism expressed itself

in several ways▫ South and West preachers led

religious revivals based on the authority of the Scriptures

• Fundamentalists biggest issue was the idea that humans had evolved from apes▫ They pointed instead to the

Bibles account of creation▫ Said that God made the world

and all its life forms in 6 days

• Fundamentalist followers began to call for law prohibiting the teaching of evolution

Scopes, Darrow, and Bryan• 1925, Tennessee passed the first

law that made it a crime to teach evolution

• John T. Scopes, a young biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee challenged the law

• Clarence Darrow, was hired by the ACLU to defend Scopes

• William Jennings Bryan, a devout fundamentalist, served as a special prosecutor

• There was no question over guilt or innocence – Scopes was guilty

Tennessee Evolution Statutes PUBLIC ACTS OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

PASSED BY THE SIXTY - FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1925 _______ CHAPTER NO. 27 House Bill No. 185 (By Mr. Butler)

AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof. 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 $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) 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. Passed March 13, 1925 W. F. Barry, Speaker of the House of Representatives L. D. Hill, Speaker of the Senate Approved March 21, 1925. Austin Peay, Governor.

TENNESSE

LAW

Scopes Monkey Trail• Trial was a fight over role of

science and religion in schools and society

• Darrow called Bryan as a witness ▫ Asked Bryan if he agreed

with Usher’s calculation that Creation happened on Oct. 23, 4004 B.C.E

• Darrow asked Bryan if he believed the “earth was made in six days?”▫ Said “Not six days of 24

hours”▫ Bryan admitted the Bible

might be interpreted in different ways

• Scopes was found guilty & fined $100

  Scopes never testified in the trial, as it was conceded that he had taught the theory of evolution in his general science class. His only courtroom statement was made at the time of sentencing.    

SCOPES

THE TRIALDarrow, as a last recourse, chose his

old strategem of putting the prosecution on the defense, and

heightened the already rapt attention of the world by putting Bryan on the stand. If he couldn't use scientists to prove evolution, HE would disprove

Bryan and the Bible. It turned the tide of the trial, and of public sentiment.

THE TRIALBryan faced his inquisitor. (Darrow) "You have given considerable study to the Bible, haven't you, Mr. Bryan?" (Bryan) "Yes I have, I have studied the Bible for about fifty years." (Darrow) "Do you claim that everything in the Bible should be literally interpreted?" (Bryan) "I believe everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is given there ..." (Darrow) "Do you believe Joshua made the sun stand still?" (Bryan) "I believe what the Bible says." (Darrow) "I suppose you mean that the earth stood still?" (Bryan) "I don't know. I am talking about the Bible now. I accept the Bible absolutely." More questions show that Bryan barely understands the workings of the solar system, then Darrow asks: (Darrow)You believe the story of the flood to be a literal interpretation? (Bryan) Yes sir. (Darrow)When was that flood? (Bryan)I would not attempt to fix the day. (Darrow)But what do you think the Bible itself says? Don't you know how it was arrived at? (Bryan)I never made a calculation. (Darrow)What do you think? (Bryan)I do not think about things I don't think about. (Darrow)Do you think about the things you do think about? (Bryan)Well sometimes.

Now, the crowd in the courtyard was laughing at Bryan instead of Darrow. (Darrow) How long ago was the flood, Mr. Bryan? (Bryan)Two-thousand three hundred and forty-eight years B.C. (Darrow)You believe that all the living things that were not contained in the ark were destroyed? (Bryan)I think the fish may have lived. (Darrow)Don't you know there are any number of civilizations that are traced back to more than five thousand years? (Bryan)I am not satisfied with any evidence I have seen. (Darrow)You believe that every civilization on the earth and every living thing, except possibly the fishes, were wiped out by the flood? (Bryan)At that time. (Darrow)You have never had any interest in the age of the various races and peoples and civilizations and animals that exist upon the earth today? (Bryan)I have never felt a great deal of interest in the effort that has been made to dispute the Bible by the speculations of men or the investigations of men.

The TRIAL

THE TRIAL(Darrow)And you never have investigated how long man has been on the earth? (Bryan)I have never found it necessary. (Darrow)Don't you know that the ancient civilizations of China are six thousand or seven thousand years old, at the very least? (Bryan)No, but they would not run back beyond the creation, according to the Bible, six thousand years. (Darrow)You don't know how old they are; is that right? (Bryan)I don't know how old they are, but probably you do. I think you would give preference to anybody who opposed the Bible.

THE TRIALMore questions show Bryan's lack of knowledge of world culture, history and people. (Darrow)You have never in all your life made any attempt to find out about the other peoples of the earth - how old their civilizations are, how long they have existed on the earth - have you? (Bryan) No sir, I have been so well satisfied with the Christian religion that I have spent no time trying to find arguments against it. I have all the information I want to live by and to die by. (Darrow)Do you think the earth was made in six days?" (Bryan) Not six days of 24 hours. (Darrow)Did you ever discover where Cain got his wife? (Bryan) No sir; I leave the agnostics to hunt for her. (Darrow)Do you think the sun was made on the fourth day? (Bryan)Yes. (Darrow)And they had evening and morning without the sun? (Bryan) I am simply saying it is a period. (Darrow)The creation might have been going on for a very long time? (Bryan)It might have continued for millions of years. (Darrow)Yes, All right.

DAYTON

DAYTON “HE’S ALWAYS

SEEING THINGS !”

Darrow had exposed Bryan as a near imbecile. Darrow asked for and was granted an immediate direct verdict, thereby blocking Bryan from giving a speech he had been preparing for weeks. After eight minutes of deliberation, the jury returned with a verdict of guilty and the judge ordered Scopes to pay a fine of $100, the minimum the law allowed. In his last words to the court, Scopes, the man who was reluctant from the start, said, "Your Honor, I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in the future ... to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action would be in violation of my idea of academic freedom"

THE TRIAL