The Monkey Trial caused perhaps one of the greatest debates in the 1920’s. At this time, while some people embraced the changing sciences and social roles with open arms, many people still attempted to hang on to the past. It was this issue that made the Monkey Trial such a big deal. In retrospect, it set the precedent of what the treatment of modern sciences vs religious explanations should be.
The trial began in 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee where an accused young high school teacher, Thomas Scopes, was put on trial for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution to his class. This violated the Tennessee state law. The law that was passed by the state government made it a misdemeanor in the occasion that any educator taught something besides the “seemingly” established fact that God played a key role in the creation of man. It was one of the first times that the debate between science vs religion in a classroom came to light. Despite knowing the trouble that it would stir up, Scopes still felt that the debate was something necessary, so he still taught evolution to get charged. In order to make his case, Scopes appealed to the American Civil Liberties Union and Clarence Darrow to help him before and during the trial. In some ways, this trial was a cooperation of many diverse groups against a singular idea that the Church teaching should be accepted as the single truth, even in places that were generally non-secular, like a school. In response to this, William Jennings Bryan, a leader among the Fundamentalists, decided to intervene in order to help the prosecution make their case. He believed that it was his duty to defend the sanctity of the Bible against the incorrect and blasphemous views of Scopes.
When the trial got underway, it quickly became a very publicized occurrence. It was known on both a national as well as an international scale, and many people were very quick to take sides. Over 100 newspapers were at the trial on a daily basis, recording what happened in order to spread the knowledge. People were in the streets, camping out in order to support their side. People brought monkeys to the streets and trial, and the trial began to be dubbed the “monkey trial”, as Darwin’s theory outlines the human evolution from primates.
After a rough start, Darrow tried to change his fortune by calling up Bryan to the stand in order to expose the flaws in his beliefs. Darrow proceeded to manipulate Bryan and expose some of the flaws in Christianity, as well as subject him to general ridicule. It was at this point that all 3rd party viewers knew that whatever the result of the trial, science would no longer take an unquestioned backseat role to Christianity. It opened up the debate over established Church explanations for phenomena and replaced them with science.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty after eight minutes, so Scopes had to pay a fine. The ACLU and Darrow were eager to use this rare chance to appeal the case to potentially work it up to the Supreme Court. They knew that this was a precedent-setting case, and they wanted to get the most benefit out of it that they could. However, the Tennessee Supreme Court ended up overturning the decision over a slight technicality, ruining the chance of the ACLU.
However, despite the fact that the case did not go as far up as they wanted, the case was still a very important one. It created awareness in the government of this issue, as well as all around the globe due to the international awareness/media. It essentially set the stage for how science would be treated in the coming decades. No longer could the Church control and essentially prosecute people trying to explain the natural world with science. It also set the precedent of the extent of the right to free speech. Little by little, it paved the way to the place that we are now, where all children learn the theory of evolution at some point during their education.
Sources:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2898243371
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/monkey-trial-begins
Give Me Liberty
https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-history-scopes-monkey-trial
Rushil, I liked how you clearly explained the causes and effects of the Monkey Trial. I found the tactics which Darrow used to show that science should not always take a backseat to religion very interesting. Rather than trying to defend Scopes, he simply exposed the logical flaws which were evident from a literal understanding of the Bible. However, I was curious why Bryan didn't realize what was happening and was so eager to answer Darrow's questions. Did he not realize Darrow could point out the gaping holes in Fundamentalist views? Did he truly never stop to think about the inconsistencies which could be used against him?
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very informative post on what may be one of the most important court cases of the 19th century. I liked how you elaborated on the circumstances surrounding the case during that era and included the public reaction to the case and decision. It's interesting how so many people were opposed to modernization and change, especially in the American Midwest, that they would allow the Church to hold so much power over their lives. The case was certainly a turning point in the education sector, and the importance of teaching science to schoolchildren and other students was highlighted through this famous case.
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