The John T. Scopes “Monkey Trial”
Introduction
Beads of sweat drip down your neck. You see the hundreds upon hundreds people around you in the courtroom. The judge is about to give the verdict. The Scopes “Monkey Trial” was one of the most famous court affairs in history. John T. Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolutionary studies when he took a substitute position and taught the theory to students.
Events that Contributed to the Scopes Trial
Events during the “Roaring Twenties” started the battle that lead to the Scopes trial. In the spring of 1925 the twenty-four year old John T. Scopes became Central High School's substitute for the school’s biology teacher who got sick (Johnson, 2007). With a 1914 biology textbook passed by the state of Tennessee, Scopes taught the program. As a science teacher in Dayton, TN, he thought that he was obligated to teach Darwin's theory of evolution to his pupils (Mencken, 2006). Darwin’s theory was apart of collection of theories linked to each other. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was part of one of the largest the science movement. He theorised that humans and other animals were descended from lower life forms. This information was from years of studying and experimenting around the world. Darwin would eventually put all of this information in his book On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection which was published in 1859 (Nardo, 1997). Soon many people began to believe in the theory (Nardo, 1997). Though the theory of evolution was acclaimed in some good ways, many people disagreed with it. The more religious people were opposed to the thought that humans were descended from monkeys. They believed that all people were descended from Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis (or Creationism which is when God took six days to make the Earth). A ton of scientists were against Creationism as a whole. This went on and on until in early 1925, John A. Shelton ,a Tennessee senator, proposed a bill to make it against the law to teach evolution in the state. It would be called the Butler Act (Johnson, 2007). This dispute would go on a few months further until something changed the debate forever. Even though the book Scopes used was approved by the state, it was still illegal to teach evolution. ACLU ( American Civil Liberties Union) said they would back the teacher who would break the law against evolution in the March of 1925 (Johnson, 2007; Drummond, 1999). Some local believers of Darwin’s theory agreed that if Scopes where to go on trial, it would bring publicity and business to town (Drummond, 1999). Those people were the ones who helped Scopes put himself on trial. Although there were other prosecutors Scopes turned himself in. These events would be contributing to the biggest court case of the century. The Armies Gather After Scopes was arrested there were a few things that had to be done. One was to find lawyers to defend him. Many famous lawyers were in on this case. The defensive lawyers were John Neal, Dudley Field Malone, Arthur Garfield Hays, and the most famous American lawyer of their time: Clarence Darrow (Johnson, 2007, Mencken, 2006) . Clarence Darrow …show more content…
The trial would start with the judge coming into the courtroom, but he would have to squeeze in. On July 10, 1925, the trial would begin (Nardo, 1997). The defence and the prosecution would start to arrive at the courthouse of Dayton. They had a little problem. The yard and the halls in the courthouse were full of hundreds of people (Nardo, 1997). The courtroom was standing room only, and even then, there was no space to stand. Every seat and square inch of the room was accounted for, Darrow noticed, as he squeezed into the courtroom (Nardo, 1997). Scopes and the judge, John Raulson, were already in their places while over 100 reporters squeeze in (Nardo, 1997). The worst part is that Dayton was in the middle of a heat wave (Johnson, 2007). Before the trial started Judge Raulston said that men don't need ties or coats and there was to be no smoking because of the extreme heat (Johnson, 2007). This was just the
Introduction
Beads of sweat drip down your neck. You see the hundreds upon hundreds people around you in the courtroom. The judge is about to give the verdict. The Scopes “Monkey Trial” was one of the most famous court affairs in history. John T. Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolutionary studies when he took a substitute position and taught the theory to students.
Events that Contributed to the Scopes Trial
Events during the “Roaring Twenties” started the battle that lead to the Scopes trial. In the spring of 1925 the twenty-four year old John T. Scopes became Central High School's substitute for the school’s biology teacher who got sick (Johnson, 2007). With a 1914 biology textbook passed by the state of Tennessee, Scopes taught the program. As a science teacher in Dayton, TN, he thought that he was obligated to teach Darwin's theory of evolution to his pupils (Mencken, 2006). Darwin’s theory was apart of collection of theories linked to each other. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was part of one of the largest the science movement. He theorised that humans and other animals were descended from lower life forms. This information was from years of studying and experimenting around the world. Darwin would eventually put all of this information in his book On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection which was published in 1859 (Nardo, 1997). Soon many people began to believe in the theory (Nardo, 1997). Though the theory of evolution was acclaimed in some good ways, many people disagreed with it. The more religious people were opposed to the thought that humans were descended from monkeys. They believed that all people were descended from Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis (or Creationism which is when God took six days to make the Earth). A ton of scientists were against Creationism as a whole. This went on and on until in early 1925, John A. Shelton ,a Tennessee senator, proposed a bill to make it against the law to teach evolution in the state. It would be called the Butler Act (Johnson, 2007). This dispute would go on a few months further until something changed the debate forever. Even though the book Scopes used was approved by the state, it was still illegal to teach evolution. ACLU ( American Civil Liberties Union) said they would back the teacher who would break the law against evolution in the March of 1925 (Johnson, 2007; Drummond, 1999). Some local believers of Darwin’s theory agreed that if Scopes where to go on trial, it would bring publicity and business to town (Drummond, 1999). Those people were the ones who helped Scopes put himself on trial. Although there were other prosecutors Scopes turned himself in. These events would be contributing to the biggest court case of the century. The Armies Gather After Scopes was arrested there were a few things that had to be done. One was to find lawyers to defend him. Many famous lawyers were in on this case. The defensive lawyers were John Neal, Dudley Field Malone, Arthur Garfield Hays, and the most famous American lawyer of their time: Clarence Darrow (Johnson, 2007, Mencken, 2006) . Clarence Darrow …show more content…
The trial would start with the judge coming into the courtroom, but he would have to squeeze in. On July 10, 1925, the trial would begin (Nardo, 1997). The defence and the prosecution would start to arrive at the courthouse of Dayton. They had a little problem. The yard and the halls in the courthouse were full of hundreds of people (Nardo, 1997). The courtroom was standing room only, and even then, there was no space to stand. Every seat and square inch of the room was accounted for, Darrow noticed, as he squeezed into the courtroom (Nardo, 1997). Scopes and the judge, John Raulson, were already in their places while over 100 reporters squeeze in (Nardo, 1997). The worst part is that Dayton was in the middle of a heat wave (Johnson, 2007). Before the trial started Judge Raulston said that men don't need ties or coats and there was to be no smoking because of the extreme heat (Johnson, 2007). This was just the