John Scopes Monkey Trial Analysis

In 1859, Charles Darwin published, Origin of Species. This idea of evolution was a revolutionary advancement in history. Evolution was a concept that was taught for many years in the Tennessee schools for many years prior to the trial. In 1925, the teaching of evolution was banned in the state of Tennessee.

The film, “Monkey Trial” is about how the concepts of religion and science can conflict in developing America. John Scopes was a man who moved to Dayton, Tennessee from Illinois to be a football coach. He was also a science teacher who believed and taught evolution. The film began introducing that Scopes was arrested in 1925 for forbidding the law by teaching the law of evolution in public schools. There was a controversy on his arrest, because the ACLU noticed the headline of the arrest and

To the press, Scopes became the hero of the trail because the trial was taken over by higher officials. Bryan believed that Social Darwinism was being supported in the textbooks that Scopes taught from at his school. Bryan argued that evolution, “removes the act of creation and turns man into just another animal.” Darrow made his own closing statement about human forces being shaped out of our control. The judge concluded that Darrow would not be permitted to testify. The next day, Darrow questioned Bryan at the witness stand. On the eighth day of the trial, Darrow decided not to make his closing argument, which also meant Bryan could not make his. Bryan won the case that Scopes had violated the law by teaching evolution in a classroom. Two years later, and after Bryan’s death, the ACLU decided to challenge the Butler Law, the law banning teaching evolution, again before the Tennessee Supreme Court. The court decided to abolish Scope’s “crime” but the Butler law remained in effect. As years passed, more states banned teaching evolution in schools. Finally, the courts abolished these laws, and teaching evolution became