US.38 Describe the Scopes Trial of 1925, including the major figures, the two sides of the controversy, its outcome, and its legacy. (C, P, H, TN)
25. (US.38) The Scopes Trial
In the early 20th century a new religious movement developed in small and mid-sized cities and in rural areas. It was known as "fundamentalism," or the idea that everything in the Bible was literally true.
In 1925, fundamentalists in Tennessee succeeded in passing a state law that prohibited the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in public schools.
When a young Dayton, Tennessee high school teacher named John Scopes decided to challenge the law, America had its great show trial of the decade (and the basis for the play and movie "Inherit the Wind.")
John Scopes was defended by Clarence Darrow, one of the greatest trial lawyers of the century and a leader of the American Civil Liberties Union. William Jennings Bryan, the aging thrice-defeated Democratic presidential candidate and famous orator, joined the prosecution.
Bryan repeatedly ridiculed the idea that man could be descended from apes. But he made a big mistake when he took the stand himself to defend the Bible. Under shrewd questioning by Darrow, Bryan admitted that parts of the Bible could not logically be interpreted literally.
Scopes was found guilty anyway, and fined $100, although the conviction was later overturned on a technicality. The trial took the wind out of the fundamentalist sails for a while, but debate on the issue has never fully left the American scene since.