by Lauren Reynolds

Created on: May 20, 2008

In 1925, the state of Tennessee passed a law, the Butler Act, banning the teaching of any theory that was not in accordance with the divine theory of creation as presented in the Bible. This specifically prevented the teaching of the new scientific theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin. Many, namely agnostics and atheists, were angered by this law and offered to defend anyone prosecuted under it. One such group was the American Civil Liberties Union.

This group championed evolutionism by Darwin and condemned the fact that people such as William Jennings Bryan had the power to only allow creationism in schools. They finally found someone to defend when John Scopes, a local substitute teacher in Dayton, Tennessee volunteered to bring the case to court. Surprising to most people, Scopes was not even a real biology teacher. He had gotten his undergraduate degree in law and his substituting position was only temporary. During the last two weeks of the school year in 1925, he told the biology students to review evolutionism and Darwin. The reason that he had actually volunteered for this trial was not because of his own personal desire to see the Butler Act repealed, but because he had been convinced to volunteer by his friends who were mainly into business and argued that such a trial would help to stimulate Dayton's small economy by drawing national attention. Scopes agreed and was indicted on charges of breaking the law.

The trial did stimulate small Dayton economically and instantly drew national attention. Throughout the entire trial, all the hotels were packed it was the event of a lifetime. Even for those who could not physically attend the trial, it became the first trial broadcast on radio. William Jennings Bryan, a nationally renowned Democrat and four time presidential candidate came to Dayton to aid the prosecution. Clarence Darrow, one of the most brilliant defense attorneys of the day, came to represent the defense. While each Bryan and Darrow had the assistance of several other attorneys, they were the spotlight of the hot debate. Media came from around the country to record the Scopes "Monkey" Trial.

The ACLU originally outlined a strategy that involved challenging the constitutionality of the Butler Act on the grounds that it violated the teacher's individual rights and preferred one religious group over another. Darrow, however, a staunch agnostic, led the defense on a strategy that involved showing that the Bible and evolution were commensurable and that a literal interpretation of the Bible was ridiculous in the modern world.

The judge denied Darrow from presenting all but one of his witnesses, forcing him to eventually turn to cross-examining the prosecutor, Bryan, about literal interpretations of the Bible. After publicly humiliating Bryan, Darrow still lost the case. The court had his entire cross-examination wiped from the records and Scopes was convicted. The defense appealed and the appeals courts eventually overturned the decision on a legal technicality, refusing to give a real verdict on the issue at hand. However, while the defense may have lost the vote of the jury, Darrow had a profound effect on the people. After this trial, many saw the "other" side of creationism or evolutionism and were more understanding towards each other. Very few people who were staunch and close-minded, such as William Jennings Bryan, were able to continue persecuting those of the opposite beliefs.

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