Quick summary
The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.
John T. Scopes John Thomas Scopes came to Tennessee after college. In his first year in Dayton he was a teacher and a part-time coach. Scopes planned to return home to Kentucky for the summer. But he was distracted by, in his words, "a beautiful blonde" and he stayed for another week hoping for a date. The decision changed his life forever.
The Butler Act
The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee law prohibiting public school teachers from saying that man was not created by God. The law prevented the teaching of the evolution of man from what it referred to as lower orders of animals in place of the Biblical account.
Why he was arrested Tennessee authorities arrested John Scopes, a substitute high school teacher, for teaching evolution. They charged him with having violated a newly enacted law that criminalized the teaching of human evolution in the state's public schools. Back then people thought that God created everything like it was.
Results of the trial …show more content…
Once a plea of innocence had been lodged, Darrow moved to quash the indictment against his client by arguing that the Butler Law was a ‘foolish, mischievous, and wicked act . . . as brazen and bold an attempt to destroy liberty as ever was seen in the Middle Ages.’ Neal went on to point out how the Tennessee constitution held that ‘no preference shall be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.’ Since the anti-evolution law gave preference to the Bible over other religious books, he concluded, it was thus unconstitutional. Raulston rejected these
The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.
John T. Scopes John Thomas Scopes came to Tennessee after college. In his first year in Dayton he was a teacher and a part-time coach. Scopes planned to return home to Kentucky for the summer. But he was distracted by, in his words, "a beautiful blonde" and he stayed for another week hoping for a date. The decision changed his life forever.
The Butler Act
The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee law prohibiting public school teachers from saying that man was not created by God. The law prevented the teaching of the evolution of man from what it referred to as lower orders of animals in place of the Biblical account.
Why he was arrested Tennessee authorities arrested John Scopes, a substitute high school teacher, for teaching evolution. They charged him with having violated a newly enacted law that criminalized the teaching of human evolution in the state's public schools. Back then people thought that God created everything like it was.
Results of the trial …show more content…
Once a plea of innocence had been lodged, Darrow moved to quash the indictment against his client by arguing that the Butler Law was a ‘foolish, mischievous, and wicked act . . . as brazen and bold an attempt to destroy liberty as ever was seen in the Middle Ages.’ Neal went on to point out how the Tennessee constitution held that ‘no preference shall be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.’ Since the anti-evolution law gave preference to the Bible over other religious books, he concluded, it was thus unconstitutional. Raulston rejected these