The Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial, commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The national media descended on Dayton, TN, and broadcasted trials nationally over the radio. 

Religious fundamentalism, or the strict belief in the literal truth of the Bible, rose in the 1920s in opposition to new scientific ideas. In the Scopes trial, science teacher John Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee law by teaching about the theory of evolution. The theory states that species, or types of living things, change over time.

The judge refused to let defense attorney Clarence Darrow bring scientists as witnesses. So Darrow questioned prosecutor William Jennings Bryan as a Bible expert. During the trial, Bryan became uncertain as he tried to explain his interpretation of the Bible. But the judge ordered Bryan’s testimony to be struck from the record, and the jury convicted Scopes. The judge fined him $100. Although Scopes lost the trial, many Americans believed traditional religious values had lost to modern science. The decision has impacted the subjects students are allowed to learn in school.