Such a small town (around 1,800 people in 1925) in East Tennessee made such a huge impact on our country in the 1920s. Times were changing, that is for sure. Modernism pitted against fundamentalism. Creationism vs. Evolution. Rural traditions versus the Modernism of the cities. This court case was more than just guilty or innocent when it came to the issue of John T. Scopes teaching the theory of evolution in a public school. The truth was simple. Yes, he violated the Butler Act. He didn't deny that. He agreed to pay the $100 fine that was imposed upon him at the end of the trial for breaking the law. This trial was much bigger than that.
The trial of the century, as some refer to it, captured the attention of Americans around the country. Not because they cared for a silly school teacher in small town Tennessee. No, they cared about the topics near and dear to their hearts. Religion vs. Science was on trial. And they were turning in to hear the outcome of this monumental case. The Scopes trial was the 1st radio broadcast court case. People tuned in each day to listen in on the famous court room attorneys going head to head. William Jennings Bryan, the former Democratic Party candidate for President and Clarance Darrow, the well known lawyer and speaker on the topic of evolution and science made their way to Dayton, Tn. to defend both the case but their beliefs. In fact, Bryan was put in the witness stand himself and questioned by Darrow on the legitimacy of the Bible. It would seem fundamentalism (the literal interpretation of the Bible), and maybe even the Bible itself was on trial!
In the end, the traditional views that represented many of the rural parts of the South; in this case, the support of the Butler Act, won. The Butler Act remained the law of the land in Tennessee until the late 1960s. It was illegal to teach anything in opposition to creationism in any public school in the state, even at the University level.
Students had the opportunity to read an excerpt from the trial and act out a piece of history today in class. I found the script in America Firsthand: Readings from Reconstruction to the Present 4th Edition by Robert D. Marcus and David Burner (pages 157-163)
When we finished the theatrical performance of the trial, we had a class discussion using the BEFORE YOU READ questions that preceded the document.
We had a great discussion in many of my classes. Students were able to make a connection to their science classes today. Many came to the conclusion that the pendulum has swung the other direction. Today, in their textbooks, they learn about the theory of evolution. But they noted, no where in their biology books does it teach them about Creationism. One student even noted that if this court case would have happened today, it would be the teacher that taught Creationism to its students that would most likely be the one on trial. The last almost 90 years have brought a lot of change to the education system in Tennessee.
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