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Inherit the Wind
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Inherit the Wind

play by Lawrence and Lee
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Quick Summary

Inherit the Wind is a 1955 American play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, later adapted into a 1960 film. It is inspired by the real-life Scopes Trial of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. The play fictionalizes the trial of John T. Scopes, a high school teacher accused of violating state law by teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

The drama centers on the courtroom battle between a defense attorney, based on Clarence Darrow, and a prosecutor, inspired by William Jennings Bryan. The play highlights the cultural clash between science and religious fundamentalism prevalent in the 1920s United States. While the names and some details are changed, the core conflict and themes of academic freedom versus religious dogma remain central to the narrative.123

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3 Britannica Sources
  1. Inherit the Wind
  2. Scopes Trial
  3. Inherit the Wind: Top Questions

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