The Controversial Case Of The Monkey Scopes Trial

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"About six-in-ten Americans (61%) say humans and other living things have evolved over time” (Pew Research Center). The majority of people today believe that evolution played a part in human growth. Modern people have been taught evolution, and most of them believe it when they see the facts. People started believing in evolution when it wasn’t banned, meaning they must have seen something that they couldn’t back during the Monkey Scopes Trial. John Scopes was declared guilty in the trial for teaching evolution. The controversial case of the Monkey Scopes Trial wrongly fined John Scopes for teaching evolution because evolution is a major subject kids need to learn, evolution is majorly believed in, and evolution is a major part of science. …show more content…
Not many people today do not believe in evolution. An online article claims, "According to a new Pew Research Center analysis, six-in-ten Americans (60%) say that 'humans and other living things have evolved over time,’ while a third (33%) reject the idea of evolution, saying that 'humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time’" (Pew Research Center). This shows when humans have a choice and are taught evolution, they will choose the obvious, smarter choice of evolution. There is a main group of people who do not believe in evolution. Research shows that, "White evangelical Protestants are particularly likely to believe that humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. Roughly two-thirds (64%) express this view, as do half of black Protestants (50%). By comparison, only 15% of white mainline Protestants share this opinion” (Pew Research Center). You see here the people who may be shielded or told to believe differently mainly do not believe in evolution while others like the white mainline Protestants believe that evolution is real. Back then, there was a higher percentage of people who did not believe in evolution because it was banned. USHistory says that, “In 1925, the Tennessee legislature passed the BUTLER LAW, which forbade the teaching of Darwin 's theory of evolution in any public school …show more content…
It is a major part of science to leave out of school curriculum. John Scopes quoted, ”’Your honor,’ he said, ‘I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in the future, as I have in the past, to oppose this law in any way I can’” (PBS). You can see here that John was just trying to do what was right and teaching what he believed in, like many teachers do. There has been research that evolution exists in animals. PBS says, ”Evolution is not a random process. The genetic variation on which natural selection acts may occur randomly, but natural selection itself is not random at all. The survival and reproductive success of an individual is directly related to the ways its inherited traits function in the context of its local environment” (PBS). This shows that evolution occurs when a species need it to move on. Not teaching evolution back then made people ignorant to what really happens. Another quote from PBS says, "The trial began on July 10, 1925. 'The town was filled with men and women who considered the case a duel to the death,’ John Scopes later wrote. 'Everything I did was likely to be noted’” (PBS) This shows that people really did not know much about evolution and came to see what the controversy was over. Not allowing the teaching of evolution takes away a major part of science and can blind people from the facts of evolution. Johns Scopes was falsely accused

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