The Scopes Monkey Trial

The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 took place in Dayton, Tennessee. It centered around a young science teacher and football coach named John Scopes who had mentioned teaching his students the theory of evolution despite a Tennessee statute that prohibited the theory of evolution being taught in classrooms. The issue being debated was not necessarily whether Scopes was guilty of violating the law, rather, the prosecution used the trial as a way to disprove Darwin's theories and to shove biblical ideas down the public's throat. The two lawyers that fought this battle were William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Oddly enough, Darrow actually wanted his client to be found guilty because then he could appeal the case to a higher court and get the Butler statute evaluated. The trial ended with a famous question and answer between the two lawyers that convinced the jury to find Scopes guilty of violating the law. Later, the decision was appealed by a higher court but only because of a technicality and not because the law was found unjust.

It was not until 1967 that Tennessee finally got rid of the Butler Act. Afterwards, many other states began to appeal their laws banning evolution and even began to require that schools require equal coverage of biblical ideas and the theory of evolution. Emphasis was put on the fact that it is a theory and should not be taught as fact. Later, these laws emphasizing teaching creationism and evolution equally were also appealed on the basis that they were unconstitutional. In the classroom today, there is still a huge debate over how to teach students about how life came to be the way that it is. No one knows for sure and everyone has their own ideas of what students should learn.