The man who was arrested and charged for violating a Tenessee law against teaching materials related to the theory of evolution.
The Butler Act
In the 1920s, a prominent religious movement centered around Christianity expanded rapidly. Two of the most significant outcomes of this pro-Christian movement were the passage of nationwide prohibition and the Butler Act in Tennesee. The Butler Act was a law that banned schools in Tennesee from teaching students about the theory of evolution due to the Christian belief that God created man. Some teachers didn't comply with the legislation, but it was rarely enforced. John Scopes, a Tennessee high school science teacher, was charged on May 5th, 1925, with teaching evolution from a textbook that described the theory of evolution, race, and eugenics. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) offered to defend anyone accused of teaching the theory of evolution in defiance of the Butler Act.
The Trial of John Thomas Scopes
The trial of John Thomas Scopes began on July 10th, 1925. The prosecution attracted William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate and former Secretary of State, to argue for the prosecution. The defense of Scopes was led by Clarence Darrow, a well-known attorney known for his sophistication. Throughout the trial, the presiding judge, John T. Raulston, was accused of being biased towards the prosecution and frequently clashed with Darrow. The defense initially sought to prove that the theory of evolution taught in many textbooks didn't clash with the theory of creation believed by Christians. But this argument was ruled inadmissible by Judge Raulston, which prompted the defense to shift their focus to discredit William Jennings Bryan's literal interpretation of the bible. Debates between Darrow and Bryan grew heated and went on for hours. Bryan wished to discredit Darrow's argument that one would be "foolish" to interpret the bible in a literal manner. After eight minutes of deliberation, the jury returned with a guilty verdict, and Raulston ordered Scopes to pay a fine of $100, the minimum the law allowed. This verdict was later overturned on a technicality. Although Bryan had won the case, he had been publicly humiliated, and his fundamentalist beliefs had been disgraced.
