scopes trial

The Battle Over Teaching Evolution

The issue: Evolution Tennessee law passed

earlier that year banned teaching evolution

The Law

Illegal for any teacher in public school “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.”

John Scopes, teacher and coach in Dayton, TN

Taught evolution from Hunter’s Civic Biology, the official biology text for state of TN

Intentional protest against new law

Town leaders conspired to bring the case to town

Defense Attorney

CLARENCE DARROW

Most famous attorney of his time

Prosecuting Attorney

WILLIAMJENNINGSBRYAN

Most famous orator of his time

Case argued by the two most famous figures possible: a showdown of rivals

Darrow represented modernity

Bryan represented tradition

Opening statements pictured the trial as a titanic struggle between good and evil or truth and ignorance.

Bryan claimed that “If evolution wins, Christianity goes." Darrow argued, "Scopes isn't on trial; civilization is on trial."

Vs.

In response to new social patterns of modernism, a wave of revivalism developed

Trial emerged as a conflict between social and intellectual values

Journalists looking for a showdown—who would dominate American culture? Traditionalists or modernists?

OR

Fundamentalists came from hundreds of miles

Passed out pamphlets

Hung banner “Read Your Bible”

Songs, “You Can’t Make a Monkey of Me”, “I’m No Kin to a Monkey” etc.

Dressed up chimpanzee each day of the trial

Gorillas in cages brought in by train

Joe Merti, Chimpanzee

Judge refused to rule law unconstitutional, so trial went forth

Opened with a prayer Banner: “Read Your

Bible”

"Fires have been lighted in America to kindle religious bigotry and hate," Darrow said. "If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools. And after awhile, your Honor, it's man against man and creed against creed until we're marching backward to the time when bigots burned the men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment and culture to the human mind!”

The national media applauded Darrow's speech

TN newspapers had a different reaction. Memphis Commercial Appeal printed cartoon of Darrow as the Anti-Christ

Baltimore journalist Very critical of Bryan

and creationists Brought descriptions

of trial to national audience

Portrayed Southerners as illiterate and ignorant

Knew Scopes would be convicted

Wanted to use trial as a national science lesson on evolution

Hoped to turn public opinion against creationists

Journalists on his side

Judge decided not to let any experts on evolution testify

Darrow called Bryan to the stand as an expert on the Bible

At first said everything in the Bible should be taken literally

After Darrow’s relentless questioning, finally conceded that Bible should not always be taken literally

Reported by the press as a defeat for Bryan "As a man and as a legend, Bryan was

destroyed by his testimony that day.“ Bryan died 6 days later

Trial changed the way many people thought about evolution, which eventually changed laws

Before trial 15 states had proposed anti-evolution laws

After trial only 2 states ended up passing laws Anti-evolution laws finally overturned

nationwide in 1968 in Epperson v. Arkansas

CHORUS:I'm no kin to the monkey no no no,The monkey's no kin to me yeahyeah yeah,I don't know much about hisancestorsBut mine didn't swing from a tree.

It seems so unbelievable,And yet they say that it's true,They're teaching us about it in school now,That humans were monkeys once too.

CHORUS

Although it's so ridiculous,They're teaching us now that it's true,The teachers that came from a monkey,

Would be better off in a zoo.

CHORUS

It seems so much more believable,And surely, surely it's true,That God made Man in His image,No monkey story will do.

CHORUS

This monkey business has to go,Because it just isn't true,It's such a disgrace to the monkey,A disgrace to the human race too.

CHORUS

1. Tell me at least two reasons why was this song written.

2. What does this song reflect about American culture in the 1925 and who would be most likely to sing it?