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Scopes Trial: Teaching Evolution In The 1920's

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Scopes Trial In the 1920’s everyone thought that teaching evolution was forbidden and that it was against the church. Evolution was a tricking topic to discuss especially in the 1920 because a lot of people thought that when someone said evolution it was automatically connected to the bible. Evolution can be very controversial because many people especially in the 1920’s had very different views on evolution and what is was. In the 1920’s many people thought evolution was something you would not teach. Most people thought it was related to the bible and did not want it taught to their children. A lot of people thought evolution was only related to the bible and did not think how evolution is related to how we evolved from a monkey into a …show more content…

If we had to have any laws against evolution the state should regulate teaching evolution because the state is able to regulate teaching evolution better in their state and would be able to understand what their state needs more. In the 1920”s in Tennessee where the Scopes Trial happened there was a new law called the Butler Act. The new Tennessee law, known as the Butler Act, stated that these idea could not be taught in public schools (1A Pg,10). Like stated before evolution was a hard subject to discuss because you never knew who be offended or who would think that you are an awful person and against their religion because you just brought up evolution in scientific terms. Teaching evolution in the 1920’s was a very rough subject to teach because if you tried to teach evolution a student may try to ask like how we got here and tried to relate it to the bible then another student may get offended because it may offend their religion or how they view evolution. The Scopes Trial represented a significant setback for anti evolution forces (5B). Many teachers in the 1920’s wanted to be able to teach evolution in relation to scientific terms but they were not able to. Teachers wanted to be able to teach students something …show more content…

So Many teachers wanted to teach students what they should and want to know. Many teachers badly wanted to teach evolution so their students could be better. In Tennessee a bill sponsored by John Washington Butler was enacted in february 1925.Declaring it unlawful for a teacher in any school supported by state funds (3C). Many teachers wanted to be able to teach their students evolution so they could know how a monkey over time transformed into a man. Teachers all over the nation wanted to be able to teach evolution but had fear of getting arrested. Fearful that if the Tennessee law went unchallenged then soon other states would pass similar bills. The american Civil Liberties Union immediately announced it would defend any teacher charged with violating the Butler Act (3D). Many teachers who wanted to teach evolution and could not had to change how they taught everything because since they couldn't teach evolution the were scared if they taught a certain thing they feared they could be put to jail because the broke a law or offend someone's religion. The prosecution opened its case by asking the court to take judicial notice of the book of Genesis as it appears in King James version

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Technically, the Court did not here decide that segregаtion between whites and blacks was permissible, but the Court did not hesitate in ratifying school segregаtion as а whole. Аfter the research, it was found thаt there is propеr construction of section 207 of the state Constitution of 1890, which

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John Thomas Scopes was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, who was charged on May 5, 1925 for violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools. According to http://www.biography.com/people/john-scopes-17183774 he is most known as the teacher that broke the law of teaching evolution in his classroom. He didn’t want to change his ways and he got into trouble for it. That A high school science teacher, John Scopes found himself at the center of one of the 20th century's most famous court battles. He served as the defendant in a case meant to challenge a state law against teaching Charles Darwin's theories of evolution in public schools.

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John Thomas Scopes, a teacher in Dayton Tennessee, with a hopeful mind in teaching children about Charles Darwin. Scopes was never a full time teacher, he was an occasional substitute and the high school’s football coach. In Tennessee, they have a law where it is illegal to teach children about Charles Darwin and evolution. This is called the Butler Act.

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At the time, certain events were taking place that allowed the rise of religious fundamentalism. Larson says, “These scientific developments helped set the stage in the early 1920s for a massive crusade by fundamentalists against teaching evolution in public schools, which culminated in the 1925 trial of John Scopes. ”13 Developments such as the increase of public schools, new fossil discoveries that strengthened the evolution argument, and the rise of religious fundamentalism all helped strengthen the case of anti-evolution advocates. These anti-evolution movements lead by religious leaders such as William Jennings Bryan argued that the teaching of evolution should be banned in public schools since it was the will of the majority, even if freedom of speech was compromised. The ACLU eventually advertised for a teacher to challenge the law that banned evolution.

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Modern thinking was denied and when John Scopes brought up evolution no matter what his case was he had no chance, yet many places heard about the trial and tried to help by, one releasing an article exposing the true evil behind having church and school strangely mixed. In the article it says, “Religion and business had become strangely mixed.” (Doc D) New York Times, expressed that when rural school are blindly teaching kids one path then there will be no diversity in

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The Scopes “Monkey Trial” changed the way science and evolution are taught in America’s school systems today. The trial came about when John Scopes, an algebra and science teacher, taught evolution as a plausible theory while filling in for a biology teacher at Rhea County Central High School in Dayton, Tennessee. The action went against Tennessee’s “Butler Act,” which prohibited teachers in public schools to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man descended from a lower order of animals.” Scopes, along with others in the community, wanted to change the law so that students could be taught Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the matter was taken to court. The

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On July 10th of 1925, in the heated town of Dayton, Tennessee, a great debate culminated in the greatest joke of the year. At the onset of Dayton’s Scopes Trial, now laughably referred to as the “Monkey Trail” the cause for conflict was quite real. John Scope had been charged with “illegally teaching the theory of evolution” (dd) Prior to this event, Democratic candidate for President Bryan had succeeded in passing legislation in fifteen states, including Tennessee, which banned the teaching of Evolution in public schools. When the scopes trial came to fruition, Bryan himself chose to Prosecute.

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L. Mencken's article "The Scopes Trial: Aftermath," he states how, while it may be the right of every person to hold the beliefs/religion/superstitions they may choose for themselves, they have NO right to force their own viewpoints and beliefs onto others, as that infringes upon their right to have different beliefs (Mencken). This pointed out to the American public the unconstitutional actions of the fundamentalist South, and many realized it was time for, at least a small, change. The effect the Scopes Trial had on education in America is clear. Before the trial, it was the commonly held belief that evolution should not be taught in the public school system because of its undermining of the religious concept of creation. This famous court case was really the first time anyone had publicly second-guessed their deeply held fundamental beliefs (such as the prosecuting attorney, William Jennings Bryan).

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The Scopes Trial changed religious views in society. Every religious person was taught by their priest or preacher that evolution is bad and that they do not need to concern themselves with it. But when WilliamJennings Bryan agreed that the bible could be interpreted differently, he opened the public eye. It told them that evolution is something they could look into, and that, if they do not like it, then that’s fine too. That’s another thing that the Scopes trial taught us.

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Modernists, however, were liberal Protestants who wanted to make Christianity more relevant to contemporary life and stay current with values. The Scopes trial of 1925 (also referred to as the Tennessee Evolution Case), while demonstrating the religious tension of the era, illustrated the conflict between Protestant fundamentalism and modern science (Document C). The trial involved the arrest of John

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The Scopes Monkey trial was one the biggest and most influential court cases of all time. John Scopes was a public high school teacher in dayton tennessee who was arrested and tried for breaking the butlers law. Passed in 1925 it made teaching evolution in any schools and colleges in the state of Tennessee illegal. This was because evolution challenges the idea of creationism which was the popular religion in the tennessee. this was a huge problem because it was written in the constitution that you must separate church and state.

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Anti-evolution in the classroom The Scopes Trial of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee put the controversial issue of evolution vs creationism on front stage for the United States to watch. After The Scopes Trial, anti-evolutionists were really trying to stop evolution in the classroom. Up until the The Scopes Trial, generations of people were following in the footsteps of their elders, adopted their religious beliefs. But after the trial, there came a period of modernization and questioning the common standards.

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Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in 1954. The law was passed to start desegregation in schools. As Dr. Fleming pointed out, the southern states, particularly Tennessee, were not very happy with this decision. In fact, many congressmen signed a petition against desegregation in Tennessee schools. The mayor and governor of Tennessee did not go against the ruling because it was the law.

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The debate on the “Scopes Trial” was another conflicting issues happened during the 1920’s. The “Scopes Trial” occurred on John Scopes who was a high school teacher of Dayton, Tennessee. John Scopes was charged with illegally teaching the theory of evolution. When the trial took place in 1925, William Jennings Bryan was among those who were against Scopes and wanted to ban the teaching of evolution throughout the nation. William Jennings Bryan, who was a Fundamentalist of old-time religion, believed God was powerful and the Bible should be taken literally.

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