War Guilt Clause: Franc The Scopes Trial

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After the World War ended, all of the people that were affected by the war wanted Germany to suffer for the damaged they causes. This lead to The Treaty of Versailles to be written, it was a peace treaty that was presented to the leaders of Germany to sign on May 7, 1919. This treaty forced Germany to surrender territories to Belgium, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Germany also returned Lorraine and Alsace, which were annexed in 1971 following the Franco-Prussian War, to France. One of the most important, yet humiliating part of the treaty that Germany has to embark was Article 231, which was known as the “War Guilt Clause.” This clause forced the German nation to completely accept all responsibility for commencing World War I. This also held Germany responsible for all damages, which was around 33 billion dollars in damages. France’s Premier Georges Clemenceau insisted on huge compensation payments, and if Germany fell behind on its payments they would take disciplinary actions to them. France was aware that Germany would not be able to pay such a huge amount of debt; they feared that Germany would rapidly repair and commence a new war against them. But with this treaty they wanted to make sure that Germany would not ever have the chance to pose a threat on Europe again. Which is why the French made this treaty against the Germans in hopes that they would not retaliate. The German army was restricted to a certain amount of men, and the general staff was gotten rid of. They were not aloud to make armored tanks, submarines, airplanes, cars, and the making of poisonous gas was not allowed either. This clause leads the Germans to be filled with rage and humiliation. Most people in the German community did not comprehend why they were receiving all of the blame. In March 1925, the Butler Act was passed by the Tennessee legislature, making it illegal for teachers in a public school to teach any theory of creation other than the biblical account. The law was passed aiming at biologist Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which did not go over so well with the public mind to assume that man was descended from apes. The ACLU advertised in the newspaper in Tennessee to looking for an individual that was willing to challenge the Butler Act. John T. Scope was a willing participant. He was a substitute biology high school teacher. Scopes was summoned for teaching evolution as a fact in his biology classes, this set the stage for what was called “the trial of the century.” The Scopes Trial happened in July of 1925, in a small town outside of Dayton, in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee. The Scopes trial only lasted twelve days, most trials last months or sometimes-even years. …show more content…
The Scopes trial was between the days of July tenth and July twenty-first, which even included the selection of the jury. The charges that Scopes faces were that he violated the Tennessee anti-evolution law, because he used a textbook that included materials about human evolution. The case was just a misdemeanor with a fine of about one hundred dollars, which should have been disposed of in a few hours. That was not the case, the ACLU wanted this cases to be the center of attention, and be the centerpiece of their campaign for the freedom of speech. Clarence Darrow, he is one of the most famous trial lawyers in the country. Darrow volunteered his services to the ACLU, without pay. William Jennings Bryan joined the prosecution. Bryan saw the Scopes trial to be a “battle royal” for defense of his faith. Journalists from everywhere came to write about this trial, calling it the “monkey trial.” Darrow and Bryan came to court with different strategies and goals, both in hopes of winning the trial though. Darrow’s goal was to stop the people of thinking belief in the biblical truth and inspire skepticisms and scientific inquiry. Bryan’s strategies and goals were way different. He wanted to show the gaps and flaws in evolutionary theory that scientist have made. Neither side accomplished a clear victory. The jury did find scopes to be guilty, but luckily his conviction was overruled on appeal. Therefore the Scopes

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