8 – The Scopes Monkey Trial – A Backward Step
24-year old John Scopes was a teacher in a public high school in Dayton, Tennessee, and he couldn’t have imagined the furor he would cause when he decided to teach evolution. In 1925, the state of Tennessee had passed a law that banned the teaching of evolution because it conflicted with the teachings of the Bible relating to creation. There was no reason to think that the law would ever need to be applied until the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) got involved.
The organization was worried that other states would try to copy Tennessee’s law so it offered financial and legal assistance to any teacher that would test the law. John Scopes had only recently started his job at Rhea County Central High School and was a staunch proponent of the theory of evolution. Initially, however, he was reluctant to be the ACLU’s guinea pig until his neighbors persuaded him to follow through to cause some excitement in the town of Dayton.
Scopes was arrested for violating the anti-evolution law on May 7, 1925, and within a few days, the famous former presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, agreed to prosecute Scopes at the behest of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association. The ACLU made good on its promise to defend Scopes as it drafted in the legendary Clarence Darrow to act as Scopes’ defense counsel. The gravity of the case, coupled with the presence of two well-known attorneys, meant that the Scopes Monkey Trial, as it became known, generated national and international attention.
Darrow and Bryan each stated their case with trademark eloquence. Bryan dismissed evolutionary theory as “millions of guesses strung together.” Darrow responded by saying the Genesis story was filled with “fool ideas that no intelligent Christian on earth believes.” In the end, Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. Although it was a landmark case, it has not changed opinions in America. The anti-evolution law remained in Tennessee legislature for over 40 years. A Gallup poll in May 2017 showed that 38% of Americans believed that God created mankind in its present form less than 10,000 years ago. Admittedly, it is the first Gallup poll since 1982 where creationism was not the majority response.